Life is Full of Choices: Shikamaru x OC
by WhiteAngelFeathers
Summary: Ayame has just moved to Konoha, a relatively normal city with a relatively normal high school, which she attends. Problem is Ayame's life has never been normal. With a history of tragedy and sadness she tries to cope and move on to another new life. Disclaimer: Copyright goes to Masashi Kishimoto
1. Chapter 1

"Ayame, get up or you'll be late for your first day of school!" You rubbed your eyes groggily hearing your guardian, Iruka Umino, calling your name. You had no living family members, well except one, after recently moving out of your great Aunt's home. You didn't like to move so much but it was like bad things happened when you were around. You knew your Great- Aunt was sick though, maybe this time it wasn't anything to do with you. Either way Iruka volunteered, he was an old family friend. You remembered meeting him when you were younger but you didn't really know him that well. But it was a place to live regardless, hence coming to Konoha for your last year of high school. You rolled over checking your cell phone for the time. Sure enough you had half an hour before school started, not including the 10 minutes it would take you to walk to school. You were pondering where you might find your roller blades when you heard your name being called again. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." You groaned, rolling out of bed. Luckily enough for you, you had set out your clothes the night before. You grabbed your neatly folded clothing and wandered down the hall to the bathroom. You quickly brushed your teeth and hair, then pulling your long white hair into a bun at the back of your head. You looked into the green eyes starting back at you. You knew you looked a lot like your cousin, right down to the blue tint in your hair, you had just hoped that no one would put the pieces together. After all Mizuki has been in jail for over a year now. 

You shrugged it off and put on the uniform assigned to you. A white blouse with a black collar and red scarf over your head. You then slipped on the black kilt with a white stripe across the bottom. Of all the school uniforms you were forced to wear this one was the best.  
You hadn't checked the time in a while so you ran to your room, shoving your notebook and phone into separate pockets of your knapsack. You made it just in time to see your guardian leaving. 

"Good morning Ayame. Would you like a ride-" 

"No thanks Iruka I'd rather just roller blade there." Iruka nodded and left the house. You now had 2 minutes to get your roller blades and a grab and go breakfast. First day of school and it was already starting badly. 

It probably wouldn't have been all that bad if you were starting your grade 12 year at Morning Glory Secondary school, as you have been since grade 10. But no you get to finish your senior year making new friends and trying to get noticed at Alabaster High. Making friends wasn't hard, but it was grade 12. You should be able to think about your school work but instead you have to worry about whether or not you have new friends. Not to mention that most of the people here are probably already in great friendships. Iruka tried to get you to come out one night and meet the brother of one of his friends but you had only been here a week and wanted to settle in still. It has been two weeks now and you still aren't sure you are settled but at least you were relaxed. You sighed as you finished tying up your roller blades and you rolled to the kitchen grabbing a muffin and heading out the door, with shoes in hand, off to your new school.

"Ayame, I'm sure you will be fine, we are the same as any other school. In fact I've visited some of your other schools, I bet this one will be better. Judging by your record you aren't new to the whole new kid thing; with seven schools since grade one. Here is your schedule; I trust you can figure out where each room is."

"I'm sure I can figure it out Principle Tsunade-"

"Tch- please just say Tsunade, I hate the title." She nodded towards the door, a sign that you could leave now. 

You looked around the empty halls. First period had already started and was about fifteen minutes in. You had a spare first so you just decided to explore and get a feel for the new school. It was pretty much a giant square around a small courtyard. First you looked for your locker reading the numbers as you walked by, since you hadn't quite memorized which one it was. 2223, 2225, 2227, 2229, 2231, 2233. Ah there it is, 2233. You fished in your backpack for the other paperwork Tsunade had given you where, scribbled in a corner, you would find your combination. Placing your bags in you then pulled out your timetable and searched for your other three classes for this semester after pulling out your science book as that would be your first class anyways.

English was one hall over, and the closest to your locker. You already knew where the band room was as you had seen students with instruments already walking in that direction. Following where you had seen them it was a corner room and probably the easiest room to find. Now you just needed to find Science. After searching the top floor your heard the bell ring. Students began filling the halls and you moved down stairs.

You, being you, were looking at the numbers above the doors searching for 134. Not even paying attention you bumped into someone, landing back on your butt. You looked up seeing a boy your age with brown hair pulled back in a spiky ponytail looking down at you through one eye. He muttered something under his breath then sidestepped you.

You were offended. Usually when you knock a girl down you are at least kind enough to help her up. You huffed and gathered your books then stood up, straightening your blouse. It was a big school, with any luck you wouldn't have to see him again.

'_Just my luck'_ you thought as you walked into your Science room, which you finally found without any help. The spiky haired boy from before looked up when he felt your eyes on him. Your eyes connected and he looked away first. He turned his attention to a pink haired girl that was sitting on his desk talking to him and some other guy with black hair. You shook your head, not really caring.

Seeing as there was no real order to the room you just sat at the first empty desk that you saw. There were books on the desk in front of you but no one there. You shrugged and opened your notebook, straight to the back where you doodled and wrote things, like lyrics.

"What are you drawing?" The noise so close to you shocked you more so you looked up into a pair of green eyes that matched the girlie with the pink hair. "Hi, I'm Haruno Sakura." She said smiling.

"Oh… Uh… Hi I'm-"

"Umino, Ayame?"

"Present." You answered hearing the teacher call your name. Your science teacher kind of scared you. He was big and he had scars on his face. _'What's his name again…'_ You thought, you looked at the course calendar he had just placed on your desk. _'Obito'_ you thought.

"Its nice to meet you Ayame." Sakura said snapping you out of your thoughts. You nodded to her. Not that she saw, she was staring at the black-haired boy. You sighed rolling your eyes. The she was looking at wasn't even very attractive.

"Okay students lets get to business"

"Hey Ayame!" You could hear Sakura chasing you down the hall. You stopped and looked at her. Before you even got to say anything she burst out with a "You want to come hang out with me at lunch?!"

You were shocked. New kids are supposed to be made fun of and alone on their first day. You gladly accepted of course. She grabbed your hand and dragged you to her locker then outside where you saw a rather large group of people standing there. Luckily the pineapple head wasn't there.

There were three guys there and one other girl there. You only recognized the black-haired kid. "Hey guys sorry I'm late!" Sakura said strolling up with you in tow.

"Jeez Sakura even Naruto was here before you." A kid with brown spiky hair and weird red marks on his cheek said gesturing towards a kid with spiky blonde hair and whiskers. The brown haired kid looked at you and wolf whistled. "Who's your friend Sakura and why didn't I meet her before?"

"Back off Kiba." Sakura hissed and the brown haired kid, AKA Kiba, turned away. "Guys this is Ayame." You were sort of amused since she was introducing you and yet she knew nothing about you except your name.

"Its very nice to meet you Ayame." The other girl in the group said really softly, pretty much a whisper. "I'm Hyuuga, Hinata." You nodded taking in the girl with short navy blue hair and white eyes.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! And I think you are more attractive than Sakura-chan!" The blonde haired kid pretty much shouted this. You blushed at the compliment while Sakura got tomato red with anger.

"Oh I almost forgot. Ayame, this is Uchiha, Sasuke." Sakura said smiling widely at just saying his name.

"Hn." Was his response.

"Hey I have an idea, lets call this lunch a triple date. I got Ayame!" Kiba shouted. You were flattered but honestly that's what you figured it would turn into anyways. You could tell that Sakura liked Sasuke and Hinata seemed to glance at Naruto a lot.

"NO KIBA!" Sakura shouted giggling like mad at the thought. 'How in the world is this girl in Advanced level classes?' You thought.

"Where is Shino?" Hinata questioned. You had never even heard of this Shino kid until now and the group was halfway through their large pizza.

"I think he is practicing…" Kiba said while chewing his 3rd slice. "Yeah Orochimaru let him pick up his sax early and has been practicing since the end of his math class."

"You can do that?" You questioned. You had been itching to go pick up a flute. You hadn't played all summer since you didn't own one.

"Oh gods don't tell me you're a music nerd too." Kiba sighed.

"I wouldn't call it a nerd… Just an extreme interest." You smiled at him.

"Here Ayame I'll take you to the music room now." Hinata said. You didn't really want to leave but you knew Hinata wanted an excuse out of there since Naruto wasn't even looking at her, he was too concerned in talking to Sakura. So far Hinata was the one in the group that you liked the most. Sakura and Naruto were too loud, Sasuke was borderline rude, and Kiba wouldn't stop hitting on you. The flattery was nice but you didn't want to be singled out so much.

The walk back to school was relatively quiet, until Hinata spoke up. "You saw how Naruto was acting around her right?" You nodded. "Do you think he likes her?"

You didn't want to say yes but you didn't want to lie. "I haven't really seen them together enough or seen you with him enough to know who he likes…" You said kindly. Hinata nodded and looked at the ground.

You walked around the last corner before the school, but just like you, you ran smack dab into something. "You should watch where you're going, that's the second time today."

"Hey Shikamaru." Hinata said. "This is Ayame."

"Hn." He walked away with his hands behind his head.

You sighed helping yourself up, again. "Don't worry about him… He's like that sometimes…" Hinata said.

'I bet he knows I swore off ever seeing him and now he's just torturing me.' You thought.


	2. Chapter 2

You and Hinata were walking up to the music room door when the bell signalling the end of lunch rang. "I didn't think it would take this long to get here…" Hinata whispered almost entirely to herself.

You smiled warmly "That's okay, I only have English now then Music, I can wait until then."

"You must have English with me then Ayame, you can sit with me, if you want to I mean…" Hinata went quiet and looked at her hands, holding her books as they had just been to their lockers.

"I would like that, thanks!" You answered happily! You had decided in the past hour of lunch that you really like Hinata, even if she was quiet.

"You excited for Music next?" Hinata questioned. You nodded. You knew Hinata was in your class, she played clarinet. Kiba would also be in your class, he played the trumpet. He was really excited to look at your schedule and see that you did have a class together. Although that was the only one because you were in advanced level courses and he was not. "I think you'll like it." Hinata said, adding "Sometimes Orochimaru can be creepy but that's okay, it never bugs anyone else. You'll get to meet Shino too."

You had just sat down at the seat behind Hinata in the English room. You didn't want to sit infront or you would be too close to the board. You didn't want the teacher calling on you for answers. Hinata seemed to mention Shino a lot. You knew it was because her and Kia and Shino went way back, best friends all through elementary school, Hinata told you this on your walk to the music room.

You started thinking of music class again. 'I wonder if Shikamaru is in that class too.' You pondered this for a moment. You shook your head. Why were you thinking that, he annoyed you. "Is something the matter Ayame?" Hinata questioned. You just gave her a questioning look when she pointed to the teacher.

"Sorry?"

"I asked you which Shakespeare play you read last year Miss Umino." Your male teacher asked. He had white spiky grey hair and wore a lot of black. He looked bored already.

"Sorry Mr Hatake, my school read Macbeth." You answered fumbling in your mind to remember this teachers name.

"Good then, this year we read Hamlet. Maybe you shouldn't daydream so much." He then turned away from you and you smiled sheepishly. So much for going unnoticed.

In the music class room there was only one other person there when you and Hinata walked in. He looked up from the music in front of him, stared at you for a moment, smiled slightly at Hinata, then looked back down at the music. Just then someone else walked in. You turned to see Shikamaru.

"Oh great another class with you." He sighed. "Troublesome." You sighed angrily in response. 'Oh how much I want to yell back right now' you thought."

"Oh Ayame you beat me to class." Kiba said walking in with his hand on the back of his head. "I was going to walk you to class y'know." You rolled your eyes at him, even though he was just playing around. At least he stopped you from yelling at Shikamaru.

"I walked her to class Kiba, so I win." Hinata whispered giggling a little bit.

"AND THE TROUBLE TWO ARE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!" Naruto shouted walking in high-fiving Kiba. Kiba grinned ear to ear, punching Naruto lightly in the arm, causing Naruto to begin wrestling with him, grabbing his head.

"I didn't know I'd be stuck in class with BOTH of you." The kid from before said. You were surprised at how quiet his voice was. He looked like a loud person, with the way his hair stuck out everywhere as well, maybe the small round glasses could have given away that he was quiet.

"Yeah Shino we all know you feel honoured I mean with me AND Kiba." Naruto said, identifying the boy as the Shino kid you had been hearing about. "Oh Ayame your with us too eh?" Naruto said wrapping his arm around your shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Hey now Naruto she's mine c'mon." Kiba said coming to your other side and wrapping his arm around your other shoulder. They both grinned goofily, you sighed.

"Oh… Uh… Hey Naruto I… Uh…. Didn't realise you were in here too." Hinata mumbled a bit, blushing. You smiled at how nervous Hinata was, clearly Naruto meant something to her.

"You couldn't have us apart in this class, I mean with us two and our trumpets we rock the band!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Hey Hinata I think this is yours." A girl with blonde hair tied up in a pony tail above her head strode in handing Hinata a reed. She wore her kilt slightly shorter than yours and her top buttons were undone.

"Oh thanks Ino… I guess I didn't realise I dropped it." Hinata said taking the little piece of plastic which held the reed inside. "Oh… Um Ino this is Ayame." Hinata said. Ino nodded towards you and you smiled. Then Ino sat down next to Shikamaru and started talking to him.

A few more people filed in then a very pale man that looked something like a cross between Michael Jackson and Voldemort walked in, telling everyone to hush up. Hinata wasn't kidding this man was really creepy. He started blabbing about something or another then told you all to go get your instruments, assigning numbers and what not else. You ended up with flute number 7 which amazed you because just by chance you always got 7.

There was only one other person playing flute, and that was Ino. Which wasn't so bad, she was just a lot like Sakura. Just she was a bit more mature. You wondered if she was hot for Sasuke too. You didn't understand what it was with him but you just shrugged it off anyways.

"Sorry I didn't talk to you earlier… Ayame right?" Ino asked about halfway through class. Orochimaru was working with Naruto and Kiba as neither of them were in tune.

"Yeah. And that's okay." You answered smiling slightly.

"Shikamaru and I go way back but this past summer he went through a pretty rough breakup so we haven't really talked in a while. I wanted to see how he was doing." Into stated matter-of-factly.

You smiled at her. "Okay people, this shouldn't be so hard to do. I know you want to chit chat but we need to work on this piece." Orochimaru said to the class.

"Maybe if you made yourself more likeable we would listen." Ino said under her breath just loud enough that you could hear. You already liked her, just for that.

By the end of class you realised you had barely even played your flute, making you kind of sad. You and Ino chatted most of class and she let you in on some information about the different people. Starting by claiming that Sasuke was hers and making it clear that she wasn't the biggest fan of Sakura. Although you didn't play you did make a friend, which was nice too. You looked up at the clock knowing that in less than 5 minutes your last day as the new kid was almost over. It also happened to be your best 'new kid day'.

"Hey, there is a back to school party this weekend, you should come with me." Ino winked at you as she said this. You nodded slightly to which she started making plans for you to go to her place after school and get changed there, you just stared into your lap at your flute, smiling and nodding at everything she said.

The bell rang signalling the end of the school day. You slowly stood up and put the flute back on its spot on the shelf. "You really like music don't you?"

You turned to see Shino placing his sax on the shelf. "Uh… Yeah…. Its only my life." You joked. The two of you started walking to the door.

"Same. I've only played since grade nine though." He answered taking it literally.

You were taken aback. During class he played like a professional. "REALLY?! I mean you sounded so good." You practically shouted.

He smirked a little at your response. "Well I work really hard, and I picked up on it easily."

You smiled and you two were silent. "Oh we were never properly introduced!" You exclaimed. "I'm Umino Ayame." You smiled.

"Oh, I'm Aburame Shino." He thought for a second. "Are you related to Iruka?"

It seemed that your guardian was well known. Well he would have been most of their grade 7 and 8 teacher now that you think of it. "Well… not really. He'd just my guardian. I'm actually related to Mizuki…"

"The one who stabbed Iruka? That wasn't so long ago was it?" You nodded at what Shino stated. You had heard the story: Mizuki has asked Naruto to steal something from Iruka, although you had no idea what it was. Naruto's parents had just passed away at the time and he was feeling all alone and wanted to do something bad to be noticed. Of course everyone was only leaving him alone because they thought he wanted his space. Either way Naruto did, but when he returned to Mizuki he was followed in secret by Iruka. Mizuki tried to kill Naruto, to get rid of the evidence, but Iruka intervened which resulted in him being stabbed in the shoulder blade by Mizuki.

"That sucks-"

"THERE YOU ARE SHINO!" Kiba half shouted. "Oh… And Ayame too." He raised his eyebrows looking between you two. "Anyways I thought we were going out after school today, remember… Me, you and Hinata."

You saw shy little Hinata standing next to huge loud Kiba. "You're… Welcome to come… Y'know… If you want, Ayame." She half whispered smiling.

"Uh…" You looked at Kiba and Shino who both nodded that you were welcome. "Sure I'd love to." You said smiling.

"Okay it's off to Ichiraku's then!" Kiba said loudly yet quiet for him. "We'll meet up with Ino, Shika and Cho there."

You almost fell over hearing the name. Just today you had seen this rude kid multiple times, and it was starting to seem that every time you did it made you want to see him again.

'What is up with this kid?' you thought.

"Oh Shika, I know your torn from the whole Temari thing but that doesn't mean you should fill the void with some random chick." You heard Ino comforting Shika when you walked up to the ramen bar. Kiba stepped in first and Ino hushed entirely. She caught sight of you. "Oh hey Ayame how's it going?"

"Um… Pretty good I suppose. How about you?" You smiled ignoring the fact that you two had just seen eachother less than half an hour before. Before she answered Kiba sat down and ordered food for you, Shino, and Hinata. Ino seemed to have forgot to answer and just looked at Shikamaru sadly.

"I should be going home now." Shikamaru muttered then left.

"BYE SHIKA!" Ino shouted a little too loudly. You think you heard a bye from his other companion who you assumed was Choji. Ever since she told you about his rough time you felt kind of bad for him. You weren't exactly new to the idea of a bad break up, after all you had one too-

**This is the story of a girl, who cried a river and drowned the whole world**

You jumped when you heard your phone ringer and you quickly jumped to answer it. "Uh… Hello?"

"Ayame where are you? It's been an hour since school let out." You heard Iruka's concerned voice.

"Oh… Sorry Iruka… I was invited out for ramen." You said, looking over at your new found friends, Kiba slurping his ramen down, Shino picking at it and Hinata and Ino too busy laughing at Kiba to eat their own.

"Oh so you made some friends that's so great." He said cheerfully.

"Well yeah…" you paused thinking of the other people you had met that you wouldn't call friends. Like the overly loud Sakura, and the rude Sasuke. And of course Shikamaru, he still hadn't apologized for knocking you over twice… Even if it was your fault. Ino looked up at you in a sympathetic way, as if she knew what you were thinking. You smiled at her and she shook her head smiling as well.

"Oh hey Ayame ask you guardian about the party!" Kiba said.

"Oh yeah Iruka, there's this party on Saturday and everyone is bugging me to go, can I go?"

"Was that Kiba Inuzuka that I heard?"

"Uh yeah but that doesn't answer my question." You said slightly annoyed.

"Ask him how his sister is." You didn't even want to know how Iruka knew Kiba's sister.

"Uh… Fine. Kiba, Iruka wants to know how your sister is." Kiba perked up at Iruka's name.

"Oh wait that's Iruka?! Pass me the phone!" Kiba didn't give you a chance to pass it to him he just took it. Which was fine by you since now you could eat. You took Kiba's seat between Hinata and Shino.

"I guess Kiba knows Iruka?" You questioned.

"Oh yeah Iruka and Kiba's sister Hana had a thing going for a while and about half way through the summer he broke it off because he thought she was cheating, which she wasn't she was just being secretive because she was planning a big trip with him. Anyways she took the break up really hard and refused to talk to him or let him say sorry. But yeah Kiba really liked having Iruka around. Iruka was like the big brother he never had." Ino explained.

"Hey Ayame, you arr clear to go to the party." Kiba said grinning.

"Oh… Uh thanks then." You said smiling back at him.

"Does anyone know if Sasuke is going?" Ino asked dreamily flipping through her facebook news feed on her iPhone 4. You sighed shaking your head.

"I'm not sure… But I know Naruto is going." Kiba said in a hint hint nudge nudge way to Hinata. You didn't notice until now that Kiba wasn't talking on your phone anymore and now he was just flicking through it. "Ayame, I'm adding my number… Actually I'll just add all the people off of my list onto yours." Kiba said pulling out his own Samsung and holding it next to your small Nokia smartphone. You liked having a windows phone, it connected with your xbox and computer easily and you liked the look of it.

"Sure, why not." You said shrugging.

"Hmmm… What else have you got on this thing…" Kiba mumbled looking at your apps.

"I vote that we all go for ice cream… Or milkshakes… Or whatever." Choji stated sitting up from his 3rd bowl.

"You know Choji, you won't attract girls by eating non stop." Ino stated.

"Oh lay off Ino, not everyone can be perfectly anorexic like you." Kiba stated, not taking his eyes from your phone. "Ooh I'm setting my own ringer too." He said excitedly going through your ringers. "Ooh I love this song." He smiled choosing Paralyzer by Finger 11. Ino answered him with a 'Hmph'.

"Ooh I want to pick my own too!" Ino shouted snatching the phone. "Wow you have quite the mix of music here." Ino said impressed. "Although I'm defiantly picking my girl Kesha." You heard your phone playing Timber for a moment before she handed it over to Hinata's awaiting hand.

"Hmm…" Hinata flicked through it all nodding to some and shaking her head at others. She finally chose one, being Misery Business by Paramore. To be truthful you weren't expecting that at all.

Shino picked his really easily. In the End by Linkin Park played for a moment before he handed the phone back to Ino. Ino immediately went to the camera and began taking various pictures of the group.

Eventually, when it started getting dark you all decided it was time to head home. After one day with all your new friends you could already tell you would like it here. It was like you were part of their group all along and just gone for the summer like the rest of them. Sure they erally didn't know a lot about you but they could learn, you had the entire senior year to get to know everyone.

'This is the beginning of the best senior year I could ask for' you thought while falling back into your soft sheets at the end of the night.


	3. Chapter 3

"It IS kind of unfair to hate him if you don't really know him." Ino said, bugging you again for what felt like the hundredth time this week. You two were on your way to school, as it turned out Ino live failry close to you. Her parents owned a flower shop and they lived in behind and on top of it. It was about a block from your house. It was Friday so almost everyone would be talking about the party this weekend, which you learned is at Hinata's house, but it is really being thrown by her older brother, Neji, who is really her cousin. You found the idea fairly confusing but you found out from Ino that they had a worse relationship before and everyone knew Neji as her cousin, but because of different circumstances in Hinata's father's death they became closer and now thought of each other as siblings.

"Ino, like I have said before, I know he had a bad breakup or whatever but that still can't change that he was kind of an ass right off the bat." You said sighing, looking at the sidewalk ahead of you.

"You have to understand, he was angrier than usual that day." Ino stopped as if in thought. This was where she always ended her tale. "You see… Temari, the one he was with, anyways they were dating for three years, literally all of high school. She went to a different school as she lives a town over but he was still happy. Or as happy as he could be… well he complained less. Anyways, Temari apparently always wanted… you know…" Ino paused you wondered if she wanted you to say something or tell her that you know she meant sex. "But he never wanted to. He said not in highschool. He is kind of good in that way…"

"Ah what a gentleman but what does that have to do with me?" You sighed rolling your eyes, pretending not to care.

"Well I wasn't there yet. Temari apparently wanted… That from him but he didn't know if he wanted to do that to her… So anyways, he found out from her little brother Gaara that she actually cheated on Shikamaru about five different times in their second year of dating, never mind their third. So anyways, he was obviously pissed and he broke up with her in the middle of the summer. He wasn't upset at first but it was just the fact that she didn't even care what had happened between them. The three years seemed to mean nothing to her. But the very morning of the first day of school she called him balling her eyes out begging for him to take her back. I guess, since she is a year older, she showed up at University and got homesick and needed someone to love her again. So school was really the LAST place he wanted to be that morning. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, when he's angry he takes it out on everybody else. That still doesn't make me want to talk to him." You grumbled.

"Can you please just talk to him. I mean for the group. He hangs out with us a lot but while you are angry at him he'll just dig himself into a deep muddy hole and stay there until the coast is clear. Or he will keep leaving and make himself all lonely!" Ino said, exaggerating the best she could to make you understand that it wasn't really about the group it was about her happiness.

"Oh… Hey guys how's it going?" Hinata asked meeting you two at a crosswalk. She hopped off her bike and walked along next to you two.

"Fine I'll attempt to be nice to him." You sighed. Hinata just faked not to hear any of that.

"Oooh if it isn't my little date for the partay!" Kiba said grinning Shino walked up behind him shaking his head. Kiba wrapped his arm around your shoulder, as always.

You shifted away from him. "Sorry Kiba… Ino already asked me out… Looks like you were too late." You said faking a pout. Ino laughed behind you.

Kiba pouted for a moment too. "Ahwell… That just means I get to bang every other girl there." He said smiling.

"Wow full of yourself much?" Ino said.

"Those are big words coming from a virgin." Naruto said smirking riding his skateboard up to the group. Kiba's face went red, first in embarrassment then in anger.

"Yeah well Naruto you're a virgin too!" Kiba shouted.

"So that doesn't mean I can't make fun of you for it." Naruto said getting a little red. Hinata was standing next to you silent and redder than anyone else. She must have been thinking about Naruto in that situation. You smiled.

"Umm… guys can we stop talking about virginess now" Ino said slightly pointing towards an approaching Shikamaru. Everyone nodded.

"Okay… I'm not stupid, I can tell you were all talking about me, or something to do with me." Shikamaru grumbled then he walked ahead quickly.

"Oh Shikamaru that's not what it's like!" Ino said, almost desperately. Kiba and Naruto ran up and hugged Shika around each shoulder.

"C'mon bud don't be angry." Kiba said. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and they removed their arms.

"He's really angry…" Naruto said when he and Kiba were walking with you, Ino, Shino, and Hinata again. "Anyone else want to try?" Ino stared at her friend sadly while Hinata and Shino made a point of not making eye contact. Naruto and Kibs stared at you then.

"Oh… Guys…. I've only known him for a week… What's up with you guys always trying to get me to talk to him?" No one answered but Ino turned to stare at you with big puppy dog eyes.

You reluctantly caught up with him and fell into step beside him. He didn't say anything just side glanced at you and sighed."Ino just got everyone to be quiet because she thought the topic of virginity would… bother you… With the Temari thing and all…"

"Does everyone know?" He asked grumpily, accenting on the everyone. You weren't sure if he had told Ino in private and she spread it but either way he wasn't happy about it.

"Well… Ino may have sort of kind of told me what went down…" He started to get angry, you could feel it. "Now don't get mad at her!" you said quickly hearing Ino gasp behind you. "She only did it so I would talk to you…" you paused deciding if you wanted to continue. He didn't say anything so you decided that you should. "It's not like you are alone in that case. I mean…" You sighed trying to think of how to word it. You had never told anyone before but that's only because nobody asked. "I wish I was with someone as considerate at my old house… See I had this boyfriend, he was twenty and I was sixteen, but I thought nothing of it. Anyways… Being sixteen at the time I thought I was in love, except really I wasn't. I just wanted attention so much that the first guy who showed any sort of kindness to me I was all over." You could feel the others walking behind you slowly getting closer and closer to try and hear in. "But at a party one night he decided that he wanted sex. And even though I didn't really want to all that much and I wasn't really into the idea I gave in only because I figured he'd want best for me anyways, since he loved me and all, right?. After that night I told him I didn't want to anymore. He didn't take to kindly to that and he decided that he needed a more mature girlfriend."

"Well that was a stupid thing to do." He stated almost uncaring. You could tell that Ino was glaring at him now.

"Anyways-" you continued, ignoring his comment. "When he left I was heartbroken… Or I thought I was but then I really thought about it and realised that my heart can't be broken or I'd be dead. That and that I never really wanted to do a lot of what He wanted me to do." You said smiling. This was the joke you would always make about him, about Ayden.

"So you took humour out of it?" He questioned in a nonchalant tone.

"Sure why not?"

"Why are you talking to me? I thought you hated me?" He questioned, not actually complaining since secretly he was happy that you were talking to him.

"Honestly I'm not sure… I guess Ino made me realise that it wasn't anything to do with me that made you rude, and that you need me to teach you to control your anger." You said.

All your other friends seemed to flinch, waiting for Shikamaru to spaz on you. "If you think so." He said trying to sound like me didn't care.

"I know it was last minute and all but it is so awesome that Iruka let you stay here for the weekend." Hinata said the next day. The plans to stay at Ino's fell through when Ino decided she wanted to stay at Hinata's. Iruka wasn't happy that hinata's place was further away but he was fine with it since everyone would be together. You also think he didn't care as much because you heard a rumour, from Kiba, that he and Kiba's sister, Hana, were going out. "As for the party, I'll be helping Neji set up downstairs; you can get ready up here. If you need the bathroom it's through that door…" You weren't really listening; you were too amazed by the size of Hinata's house.

"Yes Ayame Hinata's family is filthy rich. We've already gone over that." Ino laughed while throwing articles of clothing from her bag on to the floor.

"Its… Soo… HUGE!" You yelled the last part hoping to hear an echo. You were deprived of your echo.

"Okay as I was saying, my personal bathroom is right there… and my closet, you can pick something out of there if you want…" Hinata said. Of course Hinata was already dressed for the occasion. She wore a cute short white dress with thick strap sleeves and a black thick belt. And on Hinata it looked really cute, even more so it brought out the purple tint in her otherwise white eyes. But maybe her eyes were lavender all along. She wanted you to wear it but you couldn't since your hair was white it looked odd for you to wear white tops.

Hinata left after someone called her to help set up. You decided that even though you didn't want to be a mooch you had to check out what clothes Hinata had. Her closet was huge too! Sure her family was important or whatever but you didn't expect this much. You wondered why Hinata didn't wear any of this stuff at school, but then you remembered the silly uniforms. You didn't want to make yourself too at home although you did pull off a whole section of clothing and you did leave half of them on the couch in Hinata's closet. You found a full mirror in her room and started going through the clothes in the mirror. Holding them over your body and decided that way. After about ten minutes you decided on a dark purple dress that had a flowy short bottom and a halter like top. You showered then pulled on your undies and strapless bra before deciding it was too hot in the bathroom. You walked out, singing to yourself and glancing around the room. Ino's clothing was sprawled all over the bed but she was no where to be seen. You shrugged assuming she went downstairs without you. After drying your hair you hung the towel on the hook on her bathroom door and pulled down a fluffy bathrobe. You had left the dress in Hinata's closet so you walked halfway to the closet before hearing the door open.

"Oh… Uh…. Sorry… Hinata asked me to come get you." Neji, or who you assumed was Neji, said walking in. He was looking away of course but you could feel him glancing at you.

You quickly close the robe that had been open previously. "Oh yeah, just wait one second." You said blushing like mad. You had to admit that Neji was hot. He was wearing a tight fitting white t-shirt, which brought out the purple in his eyes too, and then he had black jeans on his bottom half.

He nodded slightly and you went into the closet, closing the door. You quickly pulled the dress on. It only fell to your mid thigh. Perfect, for a party and all. You brushed your hair out then let it fall down your back. It was naturally straight so it would look good. It reached to your shoulder blades, with some of the shorter layers only making it to your shoulders. You tousled your hair letting some fall to the front then looked in the mirror, your Green eyes shining back. "There, perfect." You said.

"You look great. By the way, I am Hinata's cousin Neji." Neji said holding out his arm to you. What was he escorting you downstairs? You felt like a princess staying here. Of course you took his arm.

"I'm Ayame." You said. The two of you started walking. "If it's your party shouldn't I be escorting you, not the other way around."

"I figured that escorting a girl a beautiful as you would make me look good." He said. You weren't sure if he was joking or not and quite frankly you were a little nervous. "Don't worry I was just joking. In case she didn't tell you Hinata is technically heir to the Hyuuga fortune. And since I am not of the main… Branch if you may I am… Well I have to do what they request."

You pulled away. "In that case I don't need you to do that I mean it's your party. I bet hinata didn't tell you to come get me so much as 'make sure she knows where she is going', right?" You said. You could hear the music starting. Neji nodded. "Save a dance for me." You said winking and running away down the stairs. You swore you saw a blush on his face. You laughed at yourself.

"Oh my god you look AMAZING!" You could hear Ino before you saw her. Hinata was right behind her.

"Its Hinata's dress." You said grinning. "Which I must say is absolutely G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!" You saw Neji coming down the stairs slowly then looking away.

"The little hottie in that number is saving me a dance." Kiba said looking you up and down.

"Jeez Kiba, Don't you understand that she is mine?" Ino questioned, pushing Kiba away, covering his eyes. You shook your head at Kiba and Ino fighting although it made you feel good to know that even though they were both joking that they were still fighting over you. Kiba was wearing simple jeans and a tight t-shirt with a slight V- neck. Over it he had a dark brown plaid shirt with the sleeves pushed up.

You ignored them and turned your attention towards Hinata. "Where did you even get this dress?" You asked, figuring it would be some super expensive store.

"Uh… I think my mom bought it for me… But I could never wear it. I mean it is a gorgeous dress but it wouldn't match the colour of my hair. Y'know." She thought for a moment. "But it looks great on you." She said. "I sort of figured that you would wear something green." Earlier that week you had Hinata and Ino over to your house and after looking around your room and in your closest they quickly discovered that your favourite colour was in fact Green.

"Yeah, if you wore something green then I could have worn the purple. I mean purple IS my colour." Ino said. She pouted a little then cheered up. "But that's okay because I like my little black dress." She said grinning. How original. Her little black dress was tight fitting to her mid-thigh with mesh cutouts at her sides.

"HINATA!" You turned to see a girl in pink with brown hair trampling down your poor fragile friend with a hug.

"Hi TenTen." Hinata said surprised. Hinata barely acquainted you to TenTen, only telling you that she was a year older and in university, before Ino pulled you away, in the direction of the music.

"C'mon Ayame, you are going to dance with me and we are going to make every girl here jealous that they don't have our moves or bodies." Ino said. You giggled nervously unsire what to say. You were average, but lean. And as for a chest, Ino and Hinata beat you quite a bit, but you were bigger than Sakura so that was something.

You barely started dancing before you were pulled away from Ino. Or was Ino pulled away from you? Or maybe both. Either way you were pulled into someone. You turned to see who it was, seeing some guy with short spiky brown hair and a faint face tattoo. "Hey baby, I'm Kankuro and you're hot." He said winking at you, he proceeded to wrap his arm tightly around your waist. He must have been a few years older than you and given your past experience this made you uncomfortable. Someone else clearly noticed as you were pulled away before you could even answer the mystery person.

"That was my ex girlfriends brother." You heard Shikamaru's voice. You blushed at how his arm was around your waist almost protectively, much better than the previous arm, and how your palm had landed on his chest._ 'Don't look at me don't look at me, don't see my blush'_ you weren't looking at him so you couldn't tell whether he was looking at you or not. He seemed to notice and he let go of you.

"I didn't know your ex had such a creeper brother." You said, trying to tell your blush to vamoose.

"Yeah… Well… I guess I could have warned you before the party. Or before you were stupid enough to wear that." He said with his hand behind his head.

"What you don't like it?" You said faking a pout, although for some reason you found that you really did care what he thought.

"It's okay I guess, but in Kankuro's eyes he just sees easy access." He said seeming to cover for himself. You were both silent but it seemed at the same time you guys both started dancing with each other. You looked around shyly. Ino caught your eyes and gave you a thumbs up from where she was dancing with TenTen and Hinata.

Soon enough a slower song came on. You both looked at each other. Shikamaru shrugged and walked away. You sighed but were quickly swept into Neji's arms, which you fully weren't expecting. "I promised to save one for you and I was going to get you sooner but it seems like your Shikamaru's." Neji said smoothly. He glanced back at TenTen to see she was happily dancing and exaggerated slow dance with Ino.

You thought about what he meant by this. "OH, no we aren't together… I mean up until Friday I hated him." You said. He nodded his head slowly.

"But you like him don't you?" You shook your head quickly. 'Jeez as if that don't make it obvious' you thought. He nodded his head slowly, not really believing you.

'_Am I really that obvious?'_ you thought not really paying attention as Kiba intervened taking you away and Neji went and danced with TenTen.


	4. Chapter 4

"I am so failing this test." You pouted. You let your head fall to your desk hearing Obito call your name.

"I thought you were good at Science." Sakura said after you answered the teacher with your typical _'here'_.

"I am but I need to study for tests." You complained. You didn't get much time over the weekend, since you were hanging out at Hinata's. Sunday morning you offered, since you were already there, to help clean up. Ino had to go back home as she worked in her parents flower shop so you spent the time with Hinata. There wasn't a lot to clean, just a lot of rooms. Everyone was fairly well behaved. Then you spent the afternoon with Neju, Hinata, and TenTen before Neji and TenTen went back to school. You would have had free period to study but you slept in because you tried to study the night before but ended up on the internet. You woke up to a cute little note saying _'I figured you needed your sleep love Iruka'_. Sure you were glad about that, it was sweet but he didn't know you had a science quiz. Sure you liked science but Obito made it so much more boring than it actually was, besides that Sakura usually talked to you all class. As you discovered Sakura didn't really need to pay attention because she was pretty smart herself, book smart anyways. But what kind of teacher gives a test right near the beginning of the year? You just couldn't keep up. At your old school it was slowly paced with a lab to go with every lesson. Which you didn't mind writing all the lab reports since the labs were always fun. You whined again.

"Why don't you ask Shikamaru for help?" Sakura suggested. "He is a genius after all." She said shrugging.

"Well can't you just help me Sakura?" You asked. You were becoming more and more aware of slight feelings for the pineapple headed kid. You didn't know if they were a good or a bad thing.

Sakura seemed to have an internal battle deciding whether or not she had the time. Finally she said "Sorry Ayame but I don't think my method is right for you. Shikamaru would be better. Besides don't you waaant to work with him?"

You blushed slightly and sighed. Yeah you would have to do just that. You decided to write a note to get there. You were sure the people in this school knew of pony express. You finished writing it signed it and folded it up neatly writing_'Shikamaru'_ on the front. _'Please just agree to help please please please please please.'_ You thought.

The test paper was handed to you and as soon as Obito sat on his desk you passed the note back. You started writing on your test paper. You pencil eraser rested on your bottom lip in thought. You slowly started remembering things and writing them on your sheet. Then a folded sheet of paper landed on your desk. You slowly opened it trying to make the least noise possible. _'I guess. I have nothing better to do. _You almost sighed out loud but decided against it since someone else had already been given trouble for talking.

You heard the bell ring and you jumped out of your seat and out the door getting out before Obito could call you back to answer number 4, 7, 11, 12, 17, 20… Either way there was a whole lot of answers you either didn't know or didn't know how to write it down. You stood on the other side of the door up against the wall where people wouldn't run into you and Obito wouldn't see you. You watched the faces pass waiting for one. Finally last out of the room was Shikamaru. Talk about slow walker.

"Okay let's get going." He sighed. "You should already have all the stuff you need and we'll go have our lunch after." He started leading you through the hallways and eventually you both stopped at the entrance to the library. "This should be quiet enough." He mumbled, mostly to himself. He picked a table and immediately started getting to work on speeding you up to where your class is now. You learned pretty fast that not only were you falling behind, the class started ahead of where yours had left off last year. The slow paced labs didn't do so well for the standard curriculum.

"How long will it take you to eat lunch?" Shikamaru asked as you threw your book in your locker. There was twenty minutes left of lunch so the two of you decided it was time to head out. Shikamaru had you about half caught up but since the class would be after lunch tomorrow you both resolved to finish up then.

"I don't know…" You thought. It really all depended on the mood you were in. "I guess it can't take me too long…" You still thought.

Shikamaru shook his head impatiently. He grabbed your wrist and pulled you out of the school and down the street in a direction you weren't so familiar with. "You'll have to eat pretty quickly okay." He stated. You nodded slightly. It wasn't until you were right in front of a house that he let go of your wrist. You blushed slightly realising how close it was to holding your hand. You stood in front of a small farm house. The yard to the left was fenced in and a barn stood far off from the road. The School must have been closer to the edge of town than you had realised.

Shikamaru walked into the house and motioned for you to follow but nodding his head. "Hey mom sorry I'm late I was helping a friend with some work." You saw a lady walk in and nod to Shikamaru smiling widely when she saw you.

"You brought a friend home for lunch." She said smiling. "You could have warned me." She said gesturing towards her apron.

Shikamaru watched you waiting for you to introduce yourself. He sighed. "Do I have to do everything? This is Ayame." He said to his mom. "Ayame this is my mother Yoshino." He said to you. You nodded to his mother.

"Oh so you're the girl who is living with Iruka. It's so great that he has you. I mean he's always so alone ever since his parents died when he was really little. And when Mizuki went all nuts Iruka had no friends left either. That Mizuki kid was a real piece of work. Shikaku and I always suspected that thing that happened… Well a few years back. When him and two other guys went out and only him and one of the others came back alive. I mean someone checked the wound of the dead one and it was only a broken leg which makes no sense because he died…" Yoshino seemed like she'd ramble forever.

"MOM!" Shika shouted. His mom looked at him snapping out of her talking. "What's for lunch? We only have a little bit of time you know." Yoshino automatically escorted you into the kitchen and fed the two of you.

You actually finished your food, a simple salad, before Shikamaru so you just sat and listened to Yoshino talking. "So before we head back I got to grab something from my room." Shikamaru said standing up. You sat there stupidly continuing to listen to Yoshino. "Are you coming?" He questioned staring at you. Wanting to get away from Yoshino made you get up and follow him.

"Troublesome woman." He whispered about his mother. You ignored it. "Just ignore the mess." He said to you. You nodded and he opened his door revealing a really clean room.

"What mess?" You questioned, as all you saw was a stack of slightly unruly papers on his desk. He just shrugged and looked away pulling out a drawer or two and pulling stuff out, such as his clarinet reed.

"Anyways. I was thinking that maybe you need more help than you thought. Or at least a different teacher." Shikamaru said relating back to the science stuff you were doing earlier.

"Are you calling me stupid?" You questioned jokingly.

"No. Just slow." He said flatly. He could have tried to joke. "Okay lets head back now." He said leaving his room.

"How was lunch Aya? I heard Shika was helping you with something." Hinata said quietly as you entered English.

"Interesting." Was all you could answer.

That night you walked home slowly. Lately every time you got home you would find Iruka sitting on the couch. His top unbuttoned and his hair a mess. You weren't sure why but lately he seemed stressed all the time. You hoped it had nothing to do with you. Sometimes he had school work from his grade 8 class sprawled out in front of him, but usually he was just watching tv. Coming in the door you found he was, in fact, watching tv. Though you weren't sure he was actually watching it since it was the news, something you were sure he never watched. But then you saw why, across the screen flashed Hana, doing a report with the police on a 'suspicious fire' incident. You heard Iruka sigh deeply. He obviously didn't know you were there, but you couldn't hide away, he was just so sad and you felt bad. You thought you had a bad day with a bad test; here he was, a grown man, depressed about a relationship that he stupidly ended.

You thought for a moment. Maybe you could help him? You knew how stubborn Hana was, through Kiba. You sent a quick text to Kiba. Maybe you could both help them.

"C'mon dude you have to come. Temari doesn't have a problem with it. We won't be at the Halloween party this year so we won't see you until Easter." Kankuro almost whined to Shikamaru. You tapped your pencil on the little café table. It was about a month in to school now. Shikamaru had you caught up to the class now but every lesson seemed to get harder for you to understand.

Shikamaru sighed. "Kankuro, can't you see I'm busy?" He asked almost sounding annoyed. You were happy. Even with Shika's friend here Shika was still more concentrated on helping you study. But then with Obito as a teacher you never felt stupider. You just couldn't understand most of what the man tried to teach you.

"I didn't drive 40 minutes to get told that you're too busy. I know it's really last minute but c'mon please just come." You blocked out what Kankuro was saying attempting to study on your own. You and Shikamaru had transitioned to studying about once a week.

"Okay Kankuro I can promise you that I might come. Now go away." Shikamaru said.

Kankuro's eyes widened in glee. "Make sure to bring all your hot friends!" He said excitedly staring at you. You could feel him undressing you with his eyes. Then he turned and got back into his car mumbling something about having to see some other friends while he was in town.

Shikamaru sighed. "So where were we?" He asked you. You could have answered that question but you were bored anyways. That's how these study things usually turned into. Study for about half an hour then stay out till dark just talking.

"Are you going to go to the party?" You asked excitedly. If he was going that gave you a reason to go. _'I would love to dance with him.'_ You thought. You mentally shook your head. _'No I didn't just think that.'_

He shrugged leaning back as he always does. "I don't think so. I don't know if I want to go see Temari dirty dancing all up on some guy." He said seeming uninterested.

Your face dropped. _'Does he still love her?'_ You thought he maybe kind of sort of liked you. At least you hoped he did. You had been hanging out with him a lot and you might have been starting to like him. He was just so smart and you loved his style. You tried to shake that out of your head as well. Loved his style? He was kind of an ass. Never amused by anything you did and it usually seemed like you were a burden to him. You looked up at him but your eyes were sad.

"Aya I think I should tell you something." Shikamaru said snapping you away from your thoughts.

'_Oh no he does like her.'_ You thought. You still wanted to be the kind friend of course. "What is it Shika?" You questioned.

"Well… this is so troublesome…" He started seeming to get lost trying to think of what to say.

"Spit it out" You laughed half heartedly but you still had the sad look in your eyes.

"Theres just this girl I think I like…"

You wanted so badly to tell him he was just going to get hurt again. That Temari was a bitch. And besides that Temari would be far away and that you were right here. Sure you were being unfair since you never really met Temari and all but still. "I think you should still go to the party…" You said. "I mean maybe you'll see this girl there."

"Well if she came that would give me a reason to go." He said thoughtfully leaning back. _'Its at Temari's house of course she'll be there.'_ You thought. Was Shikamaru actually being stupid? "I think I need help. I mean when I go. I don't think I can be there with Temari." He said seeming to suggest something.

"Why don't you take the guys then? They could help right?"

"Tch, those guys? They'd just get distracted by all the college girls there." He scoffed.

"I guess I can go… I mean if you really need me and all…" You said. _'I'm going to regret this.'_ You were sure.

"Well if you don't want to..." Shikamaru fell silent although you couldn't understand why.

The two of you had left soon after. You headed to go see Ino since she was working and it was on your way home. Besides according to Ino you had to tell her everything every time. You walked into the Yamanaka flower shop. Ino looked up from her magazine. "AYA!" She jumped up from her chair then looked you over. "Are you sad… Did something happen? Am I going to have to beat that kid up?" She asked enthusiastically shaking her fist.

"He still likes Temari…" You said slowly testing out how it sounded. It defiantly didn't sound right but you didn't take much notice since you were a little too sad for that.

"That's not true. I've told you again and again that he likes you. It is so obvious its not even funny." Ino said staring at you like you were the idiot she was accusing you of being.

You sat down on Ino's stool and slammed your head on the counter. "No I'm sure… He started talking about liking this girl and he was probably going to go to the party just to see her and the party is at Temari's so of course it is. Besides he said he didn't want to go because he didn't want to see Temari dirty dancing all up on some guy." You said with your head still on the table.

_**Lately I've been I've been losing sleep**_

"Are you gunna get that?" Ino asked as your phone sang your favourite new song. You didn't answer.

_**Dreaming about the things that we could be. But baby I've been I've been praying hard, said no more counting dollars we'll be we'll be counting stars**_

You sighed. You knew exactly who it was. Everyone programmed his or her own ringers and for some reason this was the one he picked. You were hoping it was just a text message. There was no beep of your wonderful answering machine so you assumed it was a text so if you didn't answer it would just keep ringing. You pulled it from your sweater pocket opening it then closing it and setting it on the counter without looking up. You could hear Ino holding something papery. "Aya something fell out of your pocket."

You looked up. Ino was holding up a square folded sheet of paper. She looked like she was modeling the perfect "Aya" written on the front. You sighed taking it from her. You unfolded it seeing a short sentence on it._ "The girl I was talking about is you."_ You stared at it over at over. Ino yanked it from your hand and did the same thing, reading it over again and again before sliding your phone back at you.

You quickly grabbed your phone now wanting to talk to him really badly and feeling bad about ignoring it. You flipped it open seeing his previous message still there. "Are you mad at me?" You were quick to type back. "Of course not." You waited a second before getting the next response "go to the party?" It was a request but did he mean with him? You cooly replied "I'll be there"Ino was trying to peek over your shoulder the whole time especially at your sudden excitement and confusion from his last text. You showed her your phone and she squealed in delight.

"I told you so!" She squealed. "I'll get the whole gang to go! And we will have a blast and show Temari how stupid she was!"

You sighed, thinking about how great it would be. "I'm going to a party with Shikamaru!" you almost screamed it in excitement.

Ino laughed and said exactly what you were thinking "this will be a blast!"


	5. Chapter 5

Shika's POV

You couldn't believe that Ayame would be the kind of girl to stand you up. But here you were at the party, all of your friends around you dancing and having fun, getting drunk. You were starting to wonder what you were even doing here at your ex's party, you never had fun at these sorts of things. They were a waste of time. Further, you knew you didn't want to face Temari alone, that's why you asked Aya to come with you in the first place. Did you say with you or did you just say to come? Maybe she didn't understand. 'that's stupid' you thought 'it's as clear as it can be'. Ayame promised to help you through this although you found that her not being here was exactly the opposite. Sure you've only really known Ayame for about a month but you had already told her you liked her.

You grabbed a passing drink. You chugged it back, still thinking of Ayame. She just couldn't be _that_ girl. The one that takes everything you say and throws it away. Another drink. The one that doesn't really care she just claims to. Another drink. You saw Temari moping in the corner.

Even after what she had done you still felt obligated to go check out what was going on. After all only an hour ago she was enjoying herself with her boyfriend. Besides it was her party that she was bummed at. And you did promise that you would still be her friend and oh how you loathed that promise now. Besides it wasn't that long ago that you did care about her, maybe you still did.

Grabbing another drink you headed over to where she sat on the couch. To one side of her was a couple that you didn't recognize making out and groping eachother like animals. The other side was an overturned cushion that looked okay. Sitting beside her you asked the dreaded question "What's wrong?" Not to get you wrong or anything you did want to know what was wrong usually but with a girl you would always get the same answer, which was always nothing. Sometimes you just didn't understand girls.

Temari looked up at you. "As if you really care." She grumbled putting her face back in her hands. "Go ahead, tell me I'm bothersome." She challenged into her hands.

You sighed lightly. It was very likely that that was somewhat true but it is known that to make her feel better you would have to press the subject just a little bit. You placed your hand on her back. "I do care…" You thought hard for something more to say then something got you. "Seeing you sad makes me down." You inwardly punched yourself for being so cheesy and corny. She loved that about you and you were a little nervous about what could happen next.

"Why doesn't anybody love me?" She said, looking up at you.

You thought of how to answer this and while you thought you chugged back another drink and was handed more. "Temari… You know that's not true. I mean I loved you." There was so many things that you could have said but that was the one that came out. Usually you thought things out better than that but apparently not this time. It had to be the alcohol. You chugged back that drink to be handed another, although you were starting to feel a little woozy.

"Fine… Then why am I such a screw up?" She asked obvious tears pricking her eyes.

You thought for a moment of what this question could mean. Then it hit you that it must have been her and that other guy since it isn't like her to say sorry. "I'm sure whatever happened between you and that guy isn't your fault. He looked like a jackass anyways." You said in comfort rubbing your hand up and down her back.

"I didn't mean him." She said sitting up and looking you in the eye. "I meant… The way I screwed up between us." You didn't answer her. You tried to get your mind off of what she was saying before you went to the extent of blowing up on her. There was nothing nice you could answer to that. She had screwed up. Then she tore out your heart and stomped on it. It was all her fault and Ayame helped you understand that. But then again maybe Ayame lied. After all she was the one that stood you up. "Shikamaru…" You snapped out of your thoughts as Temari placed her hand on your arm. "I can't live without you…" Before you could stop her or even think she was kissing you. No matter how much you told yourself you didn't enjoy it you knew that wasn't true. It was as if everything Temari did hadn't happened. You gave in and kissed her back. Not like it matters, you aren't dating Ayame since technically you invited her to come and she didn't show. Her fault not yours.

Ayame's POV

You knew you should have carpooled with Ino. But no. Instead you went with Iruka since he was already going to the same city. Of course it was only because you were so excited for tonight that Iruka's car broke down. Even though by now you were an hour late you still insisted on getting to that party. Why wouldn't you want to be there? Not only did Shikamaru admit to liking you he also kind of invited you to go. More importantly you promised to be there, at his ex-girlfriend's, to help him through it all.

Of course if Iruka's car hadn't broken down you could already be at the party, making Temari jealous, enjoying yourself with Shika. But instead you were sitting on the side of the road waiting for Iruka to fix a damn car.

You checked your phone. There were no messages, only the time, which told you that you were a half an hour You sighed and looked over at Iruka. He had a confused look on his face. You sighed. You had to do everything. There was nothing worse than making a guy feel bad about his abilities of fixing a car but you had to get there and you were sure you knew what to do. You stood up and looked under the hood when Iruka steeped away to take a break to think it over.

Iruka stood up and watched over your shoulder. You pointed out what he had to do then sat in the car. Of course you could have helped him sooner you just chose not to. 1) you figured he knew what to do and 2) you were wearing brand new white shorts and a green lacy shirt with little back that belonged to Ino. You didn't want to be at the party with black smudges all over you and have Ino beat the crap out of you.

Iruka got in the drivers seat and turned the car on, which after a sputter it worked, and you were headed to the party. You knew Ino and Hinata would probably attack you when you showed but you wondered what Shika would do. Maybe you could surprise him, come up behind him and hug him, and then he'd turn around and kiss you. These fantasies ran through your head the whole half an hour it took to get the rest of the way to the party.

Pulling in the driveway you saw a lot of people you didn't know and hadn't even seen around school. But that was okay by you. You only needed to know a few people to have a good time. Iruka made sure that your ride home was still a go and that you were still spending the night at Ino's then drove away. You let yourself into the house and lucky for you the first person you saw you knew. You could see Kiba's back and he was talking to someone. You got a closer look and saw Shino. Perfect you wouldn't be interrupting any conversations. You ran and jumped up hugging around Kiba's neck. He instinctively grabbed your legs piggy backing you. Ever since Hana and Iruka had at least made up you and Kiba saw a lot more of each other and now have a brother sister relationship. Of course Kiba's awkward tallness made you feel even littler than you usually felt.

"Hey Aya!" Kiba said grinning. "Jeez are you ever late. No one thought you were gunna show. Your really cold too." He rubbed your thigh with his thumb somewhat warming you up. But then of course you were cold. It was the beginning of October, and nighttime, and you were wearing shorts. Which reminded you that you left your sweater in Iruka's car.

Shino laughed a little at you and Kiba. "Hey Ayame. Why are you so late anyways?"

"Oh… Iruka had some car troubles." You said. Kiba let you down just to hug you as another poor attempt to heat you up. "Have you two seen Shika?"

"Oh yeah last I saw him he was wandering around in the other room but that was an hour ago." Kiba said, letting go of you so you could go search out Shikamaru. "He's in the next room over." Kiba said giving you a nudge towards a door in the edge of the room.

You happily wandered through the door. You hoped he had already told Temari about you. There was nothing you liked more than a jealous ex-girlfriend. You could tell this room was where most of the partying was going on. You saw Hinata and Naruto shyly dancing. Hinata would only glance up at him at moments and at time Naruto looked distracted. You really hoped he would get it soon that she liked him, but who knows with him. You didn't want to interrupt them but they both noticed you and they both pointed towards what seemed to be a couch. They both smiled and Naruto nudged you over. There was no point in conversation since the music was too loud. You looked over. Apparently none of your friends saw what you saw.

You didn't want to see what you saw. You could tell he was as much into it as she was. You turned away and started pushing through people back to Kiba and Shino.

'_This can't be happening.'_

Kiba saw you first. Tears threatening to pool out of your eyes on to your warm cheeks. He had pulled you into a hug then pulled you outside to the somewhat more quiet area of the house. You knew Shino had been there too but he was silent while Kiba had hugged you and stroked your hair. You had either been shuddering from the cold or shaking from the tears and sobs that had started but you hadn't been too sure. Shino had wrapped his sweater around you which Kiba had helped you put your arms into the sleeves. You hadn't heard much of what anyone said except Ino calling her mum to pick you two up early and Kiba telling you he was going to make it all right and give Shikamaru a piece of his mind.

You looked like such a fool last night. And now here you sat only 6 hours later. As soon as Ino ushered you into her room you collapsed on her beanbag chair and hadn't moved since. You couldn't even understand what you were doing crying over some guy like Shikamaru. He could be such an ass! And he was never very interested in anything, ever. You hadn't slept yet and you probably weren't going to get to sleep. You just sat in the chair listening to Kiba's Ipod and wearing Shino's sweater. Those two were like brothers to you, they care.

You overreacted, you knew that now. You guys weren't together, and he just asked you to go to the party, not with him. You understood that now. You felt like a jerk. All your other friends were having fun. Then everyone left for you.

You watched your phone light up with every message you got. You were sure they were all Shikamaru. He was after all the only ringer you had shut off. With one headphone in you could hear a great mixture of Linkin Park and Ino's snoring. She had tried to stay up as late as she could with you but she just couldn't last. The only thing different from your outfit that you walked in the door with was the black and teal checked pj pants Ino convinced you that you would be much more comfortable in.

You sighed and finally stood up, looking in the mirror first. This was the _exact_ reason you never wore makeup. Every time you wore makeup you would end up crying for one reason or another. Now you had a mess all over your face. You dug through your bag that Iruka had dropped off earlier the night before to find your face cleaning pads and cleaned off your makeup. Not that it mattered you weren't planning on going anywhere.

Thoughts were running through you head. Such as how stupid could you be? Maybe you're overreacting. Maybe Shika didn't actually consider it a date, even if you did. It made no matter either way you had decided that you were never talking to him again. Or at least that he had to earn back your friendship before you did. There was one thing you knew for sure. You were never going to like him again. Even if you did you wouldn't tell anybody and you'd force yourself to not like him.

**I'm not here for your entertainment. You don't really want to mess with me tonight.**

You jumped at the sudden sound. Besides the fact that it was so loud. You saw Ino waking up as you picked up the phone. "Hana?" You questioned since she was the only one you knew that set that ringer being U Ur Hand by Pink.

"Hey baby I figured you were awake. You want to walk with me?" Hana's voice answered kindly. You were silent at first. "It won't do you any good staying cooped up and all." She added.

You sighed. "Hana I just don't know. I mean I'm still in my pjs… Well sort of." You said.

"That doesn't matter. I mean worst comes to worst you can wear my clothes if your still over later. I'm right outside the Yamanaka's now, just come on out." She said.

You sighed looking over at Ino who surprised you by sitting up and looking at you. "Go ahead Ayame. I have to work today anyways." Apparently Ino had heard the whole conversation.

"There kiddo now get your butt out here." Hana said.

"Lemme get dressed first okay?" You said. You ended the call then threw your phone on Ino's dresser. Then you pulled out your boot cut low-rise jeans and an emerald green v-neck baby tee. You pulled them on and threw Shino's sweater back on figuring you would see him again today.

Most of the walk was silent but that was okay since you were just taking in the fresh air. Hana seemed to be watching you. "Hana I'm fine." You said slowly so she'd stop watching you.

"I know you're not fine. I mean it must have been bad last night. I picked up my brother and his nose was bleeding and in my view that is not fine." She said. It seemed like she had said something she didn't mean to because right after she clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Kiba What?" You questioned. "Oh no… He didn't…. Fight did he?" You questioned.

"Well… I'm not supposed to tell you anything… You should just go talk to him." Hana said. "I think he's still sleeping but he'll wake up as soon as he smells you… Or Shino… Whichever scent is stronger." Hana stated. It was no secret that the Inuzuka's had close relationships with their dogs. It's because of this that everyone joked around that they would smell like dogs, though you sometimes wondered if it was true.

You looked down at yourself and at Shino's plain grey sweater. "I guess I'll go talk to him." You stated.

"Don't worry girl he is a great pick-me-up-er." Hana said. You nodded. Of course you knew that. Okay well not really since this was the first time you've been really sad although you still couldn't understand why. It was just a guy. Sure it was the first guy you really liked since that dick Ayden but it was still _just a guy_.

Getting to the Inuzuka's you automatically ran inside. You almost took down Tsume but she sidestepped. "Morning Ayame." She said pretty flatly, which was fine by you it was still and act of semi kindness. "Try not to hurt my son anymore than you got him injured last night."

You forced a smile and answered that you wouldn't. Then you ran up the stairs to Kiba's oh so familiar room. Okay it wasn't that familiar but you knew where it was because he had taken you a few times before since him and Shino wanted to play Xbox and you just sat and watched. You opened the door slowly finding him still asleep. You knew your hands were cold since they always were but for once this would work to your advantage. Akamaru simply watched you and you crawled your hand under Kiba's blanket and pressed it on his warm stomach. You then jumped back as Kiba made a poor attempt to hit you.

"Aya what are you doing in here?" Kiba grumbled groggily.

"I didn't want you to fight him last night." You said. You knew very well that Kiba knew what you were talking about.

"Well I wasn't fighting him at first. First I was accusing him of being a jerk. The he didn't understand why. So I explained that you were there and you saw him. He seemed to get upset about that. So he accused me of lying. I said I wasn't. He said I was and he added a swear word this time. I said I wasn't and added a punch then he punched me back and it turned into throwing punches at each other. And then Hinata came between us. She told him that I wasn't lying and he got really upset and pulled out his phone and tried calling you I am assuming…" Kiba said he stopped to look at you.

You were horrified in yourself. You felt really bad. "Did I… Break up yours twos friendship?" You questioned. You were sure you did and you felt like shit for it too.

"Oh don't worry about that. Before we left he said sorry to me for accusing me of lying and I said sorry to him for…" He paused almost as if thinking. "For throwing the first punch when he didn't deserve it." Kiba knew full well that's not what happened.

**Shika's POV**

_It was getting really late and you knew your mum was going to be there soon to pick you up. You'd feel like shit if you didn't go do it now. Damn guilty conscious. You walked outside where Kiba was sitting texting someone who you assumed was his sister._

"_Kiba I'm sorry I accused you of lying. I was being stupid. I mean you've never lied to me before." You said._

"_It's okay. I'm sorry you screwed up something so good." Kiba stated._

You didn't take any hate out of this or crudeness. It was in fact true after all. You knew you screwed up and you knew it would take a lot to get her to talk to you again. You were such an idiot. It just kept playing through your head. How much pain she must have been in after she saw you. You had a pretty good understanding from what Kiba had told you. You couldn't believe that you made her cry. She did like you and you were just an idiot. Now she wouldn't answer you texts or answer her phone. Getting through to her was pretty hard. She'd never like you again.

'_Why am I so stupid?'_ you asked yourself.


	6. Chapter 6

Shika's POV

It had been two weeks since the party and sadly Ayame still refused to talk to you. In fact she hasn't said a word to you since Kankuro invited you to the party. You should have never gone to that stupid party. Over the past two weeks you discovered that none of your friends were mad at you except her. You didn't know how but you would have to get her to forgive you soon. Not talking to her was really starting to depress you. Even more so you missed her smile. Every time you and her were together she either seemed sad or angry. Either way she wasn't smiling when you were around. Sometimes you caught her across the room smiling while talking to someone else and it made you smile too. But then you would remember how much of an idiot you are and lean back with your eyes closed, just trying to forget her.

You even found it hard to believe that you were getting jealous of people that used to be your best friends. Since the party Ayame had been getting tutored by Sasuke. You almost wondered if they were making the same memories you and her had made. You felt like such an idiot. Ayame was better than that. She wouldn't become a Sasuke fan girl, she just needs help with Science. Before she got so mad you would have said the same thing about her feelings towards you. That she was only spending time with you because of her science mark. But you knew now that wasn't true, if it was she wouldn't hate you so much for what you did.

You sighed and rolled onto your side. "Hey Shika… What's up?" Ino asked tenderly. She was always like this when something was wrong with you. She was always afraid she might strike a nerve. You rolled back onto your back and pushed yourself up onto your elbows. You looked at your worried friend.

You sighed again. "What should I do?" You simply asked.

Ino seemed shocked at your question. She paused deciding whether to say what she should have or not. "Shika… What you did… I mean… I know you were drinking… It just wasn't right and you shouldn't have done it in the first place." Ino almost flinched at the thought of you yelling at her. It was unfair because you only raised your voice when she said something completely stupid. But then again most of what she said after Temari sounded utterly stupid to you ar the time. You wish you had let her in more through that, but at the same time you have always been happier with silence.

You sighed. "I know…" You said after a moment. "But I don't understand… Why is she so mad at me still? It seems pretty stupid to me to stay mad for so damn long." Which is true. This was getting to be bothersome. Obviously she wanted nothing to do with you but was it really this big of a deal. Maybe Ayame was overreacting a bit. But then again, maybe you were overreacting when you lost hope for her showing up and decided instead to go to your ex. You put your head in your hands, still listening to Ino.

"Shikamaru… Think of it from Ayame's point of view. Yes she was a little late but that doesn't seem like a very good reason to get drunk and screw things up. And don't think you're the only one affected by this. She's pretty upset too. I mean imagine if it was her that got drunk and started screwing around with her ex-boyfriend because you were late for a party." Ino said. You tried to play it out in your head. "If it were her you would be just as angry. You would want to never forgive her. You would want her out of your life forever."

To you that didn't sound like you, especially after this situation. But after some thought you knew it was possible. As much as you wanted to fight back with Ino you couldn't.

'_She's right.'_

Ayame's POV

You did not like working with Sasuke at all. Every time you tried to get to work some girl would show up and be all over him. Not to mention that now Sakura is purposely failing Chemistry so she can be tutored._ 'I need Shika back'_ you thought. Then you shook your head. _'What am I thinking?'_

"Is something the matter Ayame?" Sasuke questioned pretty angrily. He hated tutoring you. He always said he had better things to do. He really didn't like repeating himself either.

"No… Nothing…" You said quietly.

"You know what? I've had it." Sasuke said slamming his fists on the table and standing up. "I am sick of tutoring you. You had better go forgive Shika or you're going to fail Science. Its your choice." Sasuke half shouted. You were scared. You had never seen him lose his temper before. He usually kept it all cool and junk.

"Its not that easy…" You said quietly.

"Not that easy?" He mocked. "All of you females are the same. If it's not that easy then make it easy!" Sasuke then turned and stomped away in the other direction. You were horrified. What would you do now? You couldn't just forgive Shikamaru. But you also couldn't just fail Science.

"Wow Aya you really know how to blow it with guys don't you." Your pink haired companion said.

You turned on her surprised. You forgot she was there. "Excuse me?"

"You know very well what I mean." She said standing up and gathering her books. "Shikamaru only made out with Temari because he was drunk. Which he was drunk because you weren't there. Not that that is your fault. But now you have depressed Shikamaru beyond belief. You refuse to talk to him or receive his calls and texts. Now think of it this way. He was drunk and his mind wasn't straight. If you were in his position you would have done the same thing. Except Shikamaru wouldn't hate you. He wouldn't care he'd forgive you right away, as if nothing happened." Sakura said.

You wanted to fight back with her but you knew you couldn't. It would be utterly completely and totally stupid for you to fight back. There was only one reason for that.

'_She's right.'_

"Aya I want you to get a job. That was all he said then he left the house for work." You complained to Ino on the way to school. "He says if I don't get a job I can't go out for Halloween… But it's not natural to stay in on Halloween… I already have a costume and everything." You really didn't want to miss this party. Of course it was a little depressing knowing Shika was going to be there and Temari was showing up for this one too. Although you weren't quite sure where it was just that Ino was invited by her cousin who wanted her to bring all her friends.

At the same time though you were slowly talking yourself out of the party. They weren't really that fun seeing as how since being at this school you had been to two parties and only fifty percent of them were fun. You also knew Iruka was just looking out for your wellbeing. He was tired of seeing you moping around the house all the time. Seeing you upset over some boy. See you didn't go out with your friends as much because everywhere they went Shika went with them. Iruka knew that. At least a job would get you out of the house.

"Come work with me. I mean my parents like you." Ino stated.

"The party is in two days. They won't hire me in two days. No matter how much they like me. Besides, aren't your parents out of town?" You said. Your plan was to get hired there. That is until Ino ran out of her house this morning telling the world about having the house all to her. '_As if that isn't asking to be raped in the middle of the night.'_ You thought. Okay so the thought might be a little morbid but you weren't exactly in the best mood.

"Well you can't just stay home… I mean… God hasn't Iruka ever been a teenager?" Ino said.

You sighed. "I don't know." Shikamaru and Kiba walked up to you and Ino. You fell entirely silent and dropped all expression from your face.

"Ayame… I'm sorry." Shikamaru stated, as he did ever morning. 3 weeks ago he would have continued a bit more but he has given up. Ayame hope he would give up soo, as he just sounds silly now. Shikamaru sighed then mumbled "you are so troublesome." Ino half-heartedly smiled.

You stayed silent. Seeing the turnoff for the school ahead you turned and walked ahead. You knew it was unfair to still hate him but it still didn't feel right to just go back and act like nothing ever happened. Sure you were overreacting since it was just a stupid little not-really-but-sort-of-date but that made no difference. He still went back to his ex-girlfriend. How are you supposed to help him get over her if he still goes back to her? You sighed when you knew you were out of their distance. Out of their distance being sitting in your seat in the music room with your flute in hand.

You wished you hadn't blown this stupid little fight so out of proportion. _'You really messed this one up.'_ You thought. You tried simply playing your flute but for some reason you just couldn't get a sound out. _'Great now I can't even play the damn instrument.'_ You decided just to let the instrument rest on your chair then you stood up and walked to the back of the room AKA the wall of windows. You sat on the window seat and just stared out waiting for your damn class to start. Outside you saw the wind blowing in the trees and the leaves falling. That's the moment you decided. Before you could see Orochimaru you closed up your case, put it on the shelf, waved to Shino and ran out the door.

You sprinted out into the crisp fall air and ran. You ran all the way to the park on the mountain side at the edge of Konoha. You found the biggest tree you could see and sat under it. _'this is it. This is the last thing I think about shikamaru. Today I stop caring. Starting today I'll have fun regardless of where he is. Maybe we can be friends again, maybe not. Either way I have to stop thinking about him and think about me.' _Then leaning your head back onto the tree you closed your eyes and had a nap.

Shika's POV

You knew getting through to Ayame was hopeless, but you chose that you would prove yourself tonight at the party. Considering you weren't actually going to show until about four minutes ago and you had to leave your house in 10 minutes that's pretty good. But you knew she would be going and after the way she walked away on you two days before you weren't sure if you wanted to talk to her anymore. Your head kept telling you she wasn't worth it but there was something else that was telling you she was. Maybe it was because two days ago, after lunch, she came in to school, looking more beautiful than ever and smiling again. She seemed happy again. You didn't really want to get into that though because you felt you were way too young to listen to what your heart was telling you.

So as it came down to it you had no costume and Kiba was sitting in his car waiting on you. You looked around for something to wear as a costume. Maybe you could just look better than usual. You did have a white dress coat and a black dress shirt. And lucky for you in your dads closet you found white dress pants. You threw them all on then ran out to Kiba's car promising your dad that you would be home later and telling your mom the actual time because your dad is too much of an alcoholic to remember that sort of thing.

"What are you supposed to be?" Kiba questioned.

"Not a lame excuse for a pirate like you." You answered inwardly laughing at Kiba's costume. Kiba shrugged and agreed then cranked the music and pulled out of your driveway off to Ino's cousin's place.

Aya's POV

"We're heading over to Ino's now." You called to Iruka. You, Hinata, and Ino were all having a _'sleepover'_ at Ino's place. Or that was the plan made up since you didn't get the job. Of course you told Iruka that things were looking very good and that they can't give it to you yet for some unknown reason. But until then you were allowed to go over to Ino's place for the night since her parents are totally there and all. Okay so you were lying a little bit.

Really you were going to Ino's, you her and Hina were getting changed then you were going to the party. Then the three of you will drive back home, you being the designated driver before Ino's parents are home. Then when Iruka calls in the morning as he always does you'll be just waking up from a marathon of scary movies that you Ino and Hina totally watched. It seemed pretty fool proof to you.

"Jeez guys you could have told me that the theme was cute and fluffy." You whined as you all came out of separate rooms from getting changed in. you were just a pretty little angel. Hinata was wearing a bunny nose and White bunny ears with a bunny tail. Of course she didn't pull a mean girls thing since she actually wore some clothing, being a white low-rise pants and a white baby tee. To say the least she was very white and it looked good.

Ino looked you up and down and started rummaging through her closet. You didn't know why though since her costume was perfect. She wore a dark purple strapless dress with a purple ruffle style short bottom, of course the under colour was grey, with a little pink nose, big circular round ears and a little mouse tail. She looked adorable as a mouse yet not trampy like most Halloween costumes do. She finally pulled out a clear bag with a bunch of black fabric in it. There was also a tad of red from what you saw. She pulled it out and made you put on everything in the bag.

You stepped out of the bathroom wearing a black schoolgirl style mini skirt and a black long sleeve soft-to-touch tight polo. Attached around your waist was a long-ish black tail. To your head you had black cat ears with red insides and a little red nose with attached whiskers. Lastly Ino attached a little red ribbon with a non-working bell around your neck. You hadn't noticed till now but Hinata had a Orange ribbon tied around her neck in a large bow and Ino had a string look-a-like ribbon round hers.

You looked down at yourself. "Where do you get these things?" You questioned amazed.

"My great aunt makes them and adds nice clothes with them. I always match all my girl friends on Halloween. When we meet TenTen at the party she'll be wearing one too only hers is a puppy dog, brown and pink."

"These are so amazing!" You exclaimed.

"You should have seen us last year Ayame. It was me, Ino, TenTen, and Temari. Anyways we were Geisha… Well sexy-ish Geisha in silk." Hinata gushed.

"Yeah yeah same old same old. Can we get to the party now before I get old?!" Ino complained and you all jumped in Hinata's vehicle and headed out.


	7. Chapter 7

Shika's POV

So the party was more or less a drag. Apparently the majority of the people that were supposed to show didn't. But you weren't complaining since the people that did show were your friends and Aya. Although you had to say that Ino's aunt went all out this year as they all looked hot. Although you still liked Ayame more in greens not straight blacks. There were a few people there that you didn't recognize. Most of them seemed to like Ayame though, as she danced most of the night with random people. You didn't like those assholes. You sighed. Seeing as how she had made herself clear you really shouldn't be thinking about her like this. You sighed and looked over at Kiba. You know you guys were supposed to be leaving soon. A lot of people were filing out into the fresh air before their parents came for pickup.

Kiba was staying in town for the night at relative's place, which left you sitting outside waiting for your dad alone. It gave you some time to think and in the time it took for your dad to show you decided that if this was the way Ayame was going to be you would have to act the same way. If that's what she wanted that's what she would get. It was time now that you started thinking more about yourself and not caring what anybody else did. To at least act happy. What was most important was to not turn into the shell of Shikamaru you were after you were with Temari. Should be easy enough since you weren't even with Ayame. You could see your dad's truck pulling up just as you heard a familiar yell.

Aya's POV

*Earlier*

The first person to greet you and the girls at the party was, of course Kiba. He was always the first person you saw anywhere you went he was just that sort of person. Naruto however, was not there. Hinata seemed to get a little upset the moment she didn't see him. But that was okay, you would find a way to cheer her up. Ino had already disappeared to dance with a guy her cousin knew, since it appeared that Sasuke was nowhere to be seen either. Neji walked over to the group with a blushing TenTen in tow. You all knew immediately that something had happened. Upon seeing everyone staring at them Neji turned his attention to Hinata, asking if she needed a ride home, to which she responded with a quiet no. Neji smiled and walked with Ten Ten to the middle of the dancing group and began to dance, though not very well, with her.

Eventually everyone was dancing. You had easily pulled Hinata on to the floor and forced her to dance. Though once she started you remembered why you usually didn't dance with her; she was way better than anyone you ever met. It was like she took lessons or something. It was unfortunate that Naruto wasn't here as you knew he would notice Hinata if she was dancing like this. Unfortunately she was too shy to do it in front of him. You smiled at her when she gave you a confused look. You must have zoned out for a while. Long enough to not even notice that you were dancing with a guy now. It felt wrong though. Like your movement didn't match his, he was dancing too fast. And he kept trying to grab on to your waist.

You felt familiar eyes watching you. You knew Shikamaru wasn't having a good time, watching you. Hopefully you were making him feel worse about what he had done. Although really you knew that you just couldn't admit that you had gone too far in hating him. But you wouldn't apologize, you just felt stupid.

Before long you seemed to have danced with everyone random guy there, after each had their fill of dancing with Ino of course. You never danced with them long as all of them were like the first. Fairly handsy and you weren't comfortable with any of them.

It was Ino who finally cut in. She gestured towards an exhausted looking Hinata and asked if you wanted to go outside. You could barely hear her but understood the gist of it and so you stepped out into the cold air. Hinata sat in the grass, laying back smiling. Ino also layed down, clearly having too much to drink as she was giggling away. Hinata, as far as you knew, drank nothing, she was just high on dancing. You giggled at your own thought.

You looked down at your two best friends, if it was safe to call them that yet, and laughed at both of them. Then the three of you just chatted. You occasionally glanced over at Shikamaru. He was clearly waiting for his ride, and seemed to take no notice of you.

"AYAME UMINO WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

You completely froze in mid-sentence. You were saying something to Ino although you weren't sure what it was now. You turned slowly. "I… Iruka…" You whispered seeing your guardian's frazzled look.

"I can't believe you would do this. Lie to me? I mean what did I do to you exactly? I mean I guess I was just worried y'know when the Yamanaka's called to ask where Ino was. By the way Ino your parents are home and waiting to punish you themselves."

"I'm sorry…" you whispered.

"I don't want to hear it. We'll talk about punishment when we get home for now get in the car." Iruka growled pointed at his small beat up car. You quickly got in without argueing and buckled your seatbelt. As you pulled out you saw Yoshino ushering Shikamaru into his dads truck and two incredibly sympathetic looks from Ino and Hinata, even though this was your own choice.

You were driving for twenty minutes and Iruka was yelling every second of each one. Of course he was mostly angry that you lied and went to the party but you figured he'd understand anyways. Of course you knew that he was worried but that didn't mean you wanted to hear about it the hole ride back home. You picked at a string off of your skirt. It was sad to think that there was still thirty minutes left of the car ride. You slowly blocked Iruka's talk out of your head and leaned your head on the window. Looking out the windshield you saw fields. You were far in between both towns. This is the kinds of car rides you like, to try and see what wildlife you can outside. Ahead you could see street lights, the only ones for miles as the showed an intersection between main roads. During the day you were sure it would be busy but at night there wasn't a car in sight. Except, of course, Yoshino, who had been following the whole way. She had fallen a bit behind now, but you knew Iruka was driving fast, he always did.

All of a sudden the car was silent. You didn't think to look over until it was too late. You saw a flash of light. You heard glass shattering but the last thing you heard was your own scream before everything went black.

Shika's POV

Your mom was going on and on about your dad, as always. You knew she loved him but when he had his drinking nights, like tonight, she acted like she didn't. tonight he was too drunk to pick up his only child from a party, and that upset her a lot. So here she was picking you up at 1am when she has to be up in 5 hours to do the morning farm chores that she always did. You looked out the windshield, nodding at the appropriate times, watch the back of Iruka's car. You saw the light ahead change from green to red and felt the truck slowing down, but for some reason Iruka wasn't. He was well away from the light, he had plenty of time to slow down.

Yoshino realised what was going to happen as well as she had a sharp intake of breath. You already had your seat belt undone.

The box type delivery truck slammed into the side of Iruka's small car, seeing it crubple under the force of the truck. You heard the sounds of metal on metal, glass shattering and a scream. You knew it instantly. You were out of the truck before it had even completely stopped, running to the scream, to Ayame.

By the time you made it all was still. The only sound was your mother yelling to you that she would get help before driving away. You felt like you were walking up to the mangled car in slow-motion, when in reality you were still running. You took it all in. The passenger side had one dent in it, from where it hit the barrier, stopping the car from landing in the ditch. The window was shattered, and settled on the edge of it was the side of Ayame's head. You had no idea what to do. You wished your dad was here.

You glanced at Iruka for a moment then looked back at Ayame. Your eyes were drawn to her. Her white hair was stained with blood. She had a huge gash on her skull where the blood was pouring out and glass all over her lap from the windshield. You stepped closer, feeling the glass from her window crunching under your feet. Then you touched her head, where the cut was. You felt warm liquid pouring all over your hand. You suddenly had the urge that you needed to get her out. She looked trapped, breathing in the smoke from the airbag. You slowly opened the door, her torso limply being held in by her seatbelt. Thank god she was a smart girl. Then, unhooking the seatbelt, you gently lifted her under the armpits out of the car. You felt her blood soaking through your shirt as you laid her down in the soft grass, keeping her upper half propped up against you. Hopefully keeping her upright would stop all the blood from pouring out of her head. You tried to stay calm, looking down at her. Then you noticed a wet spot on her cheek. While bracing her wound against you to keep pressure on it you wiped your hand across your cheek. The tears mixed with her blood. When had you started crying?

A moment later you thought you saw her eyes fluttering. You were sure of it. "Ayame? Aya. Come one Aya you need to speak to me! You can do this Aya! I know you can! Look at me-" You choked on a sob when you realised that it wasn't working. She wasn't answering. Those big green eyes weren't opening. What if they never opened again. You cried, holding the fragile girl against your chest, feeling the warm liquid on your body. You looked back down at her face. She was pale. As white as her hair. You began sobbing again. You hear the siren in the distance and just held her close. _'you aren't going anywhere Aya, you can't. I need you.'_ Still sobbing, those chocked silent ones until the moment the red and white flashing lights were on you.

Your mother ran up to you with half of the paramedics behind. You could already hear the others talking about Iruka. Dead. You looked up from the place in Ayame's hair you had previously been nestled in and choked out "Mom…" The tears were pricking fresh again. "I can't tell…" The Paramedics moved Ayame out of your arms onto a stretcher and immediately began cleaning her head, and stitching it while another pumped her chest. You already knew it. You already felt her breathing slowing. Her last breath was exactly one and a half minutes ago. You mother looked at the paramedics with tears streaming down her face. You were too late.

Aya's POV

"Shikamaru… Have you been sleeping at all bud?" You could hear Kiba's voice cut the never-ending silence.

There was a sigh then "I'm going to the bathroom" from a very tired sounding Shikamaru. You heard an unfamiliar door shut._ 'Where am I?'_ You became aware of your limbs, how heavy they felt, and the subtle pounding in your head. You also felt strangely warm.

Your eyes fluttered as you tried to open them. The light was too bright. "Kiba look-" Hinata whispered. You could feel someone grab your hand. That's when you realised that someone already had the other. You squeezed both. "Ayame… I'm right here. And Kiba-kun too." Hinata whispered.

Your eyes finally opened and they scanned the room. "There are those beautiful eyes I've been waiting to see all week." Kiba said sweetly. You almost laughed at his attempt to pick you up. He was always the first person you saw. But this Kiba wasn't right. He had bags under his eyes. So did Hinata. Her pale eyes looked like they were brightened by hers. This made you almost happy. Almost. Until you realised where exactly you were. The pale walls gave it away.

"What happened?" You asked quietly, feeling like you were tied down by the weight in your limbs. There was one person that you knew should have been there beside you in the hospital that wasn't. "Where's Iruka?"

Neither of them answered you. Hinata looked at her hand that held yours and Kiba looked at the floor. Tears sprung to your eyes as you recalled the flash of light, and the silent Iruka sitting next to you in the car. You held the tears back; waiting to make sure what you thought was true. The door opened and you looked up to see Shikamaru, standing in the open door. His eyes were puffy and red as he looked up at you. "Oh… Well it's good that you are awake." He whispered a little quieter than usual then he walked out, before you even got the chance to ask him where Iruka was. You knew Shikamaru would be brutally honest, especially if it saddened you.

Ino burst in the room, throwing Kiba out of his seat and taking the hand that he previously held. "Go talk to Shika." She growled at him. He nodded and left the room.

"Ino…" You gulped back a sob. "What happened to Iruka?"

"Aya I want you to understand that it wasn't your fault. He fainted seconds before the crash." You gasped, remembering the silence in the car prior to the flash. "He fainted for medical reasons, nothing to do with you. The fact that you were in the car with him had nothing to do with it. He… He died instantly, he didn't feel a thing." She tried to say the last part in comfort, but it didn't work. You burst into tears, taking your hands back to wipe your eyes. Both Hinata and Ino sat on eachedge of your bed and hugged you, then Hinata left, while Ino still hugged you. You had felt a movement from Ino. Maybe she had asked Hinata to leave? Ino pushed your hair away from your face as it was getting stuck to your wet cheek. Your sobs and tears quieted and you could hear that Ino was talking.

"Honey he's been traumatized. When he pulled you from the wreck he thought you were dead too. He is sure you died. You hit your head on the window or something when the truck hit your car. Shika saw it all happen right in front of him. He hasn't slept in a week, and he hasn't talked to anyone. He's just sat here silent. Or sat at home, silent. Or sat at the park, silent. I don't even know if he's eating anymore." Ino sounded close to tears.

"Ino…" You hated to see her like this. You attempted to wipe the tears from your eyes. Thinking still of Iruka, sweet Iruka. After years of moving around he was the first person who wanted you. All your other gaurdians, your real family, just accepted you. But you lied to him, and you fought with him. And you did this too him. A new wave of tears flooded through your entire body. You sat with your head in your hands like you were trying to pool all the tears.

"Ayame…" She sniffed. "I know you just lost… well basically your brother but I'm afraid I'm about to lose someone I love like a brother so please… I know you swore you would never talk to him again but please Ayame…. You have to understand…." You sniffed looking at Ino through teary bubbles, into her blue eyes, that looked for the first time ever like they were dull. People called Ino selfish, but if any one of them saw this side they would love her just as much as you do. She isn't selfish, she only cares too much. You nodded slightly at her with tears still streaming slowly from your eyes.

To be truthful you wanted to talk to him. It had been killing you just not talking to him. Not smiling when he foolishly complained. Not laughing at his sarcasm that no one else seemed to pick up on. But you also just wanted him. He always calmed you, with him always being so calm, always thinking. You also needed a rock, but so did he. Maybe you just needed each other.

You hadn't noticed Ino leave until Shikamaru walked in. You looked him over through your tear soaked eye lashes. He did look like shit. He was pale with dark bags under his eyes. And his eyes were slightly red and puffy. He sat down in the chair next to your bed a little too hard, like th energy to heave himself down slowly just wans't there. There was a slightly awkward silence as you both chose what to say. "Shikamaru…. None of this is your fault."

"I never thought it was…" He whispered. He wouldn't look at you. You knew that was a stupid thing to say, but you couldn't think of anything else.

"Then what's wrong? Ino says you haven't slept or ate anything since I went out. And you look like shit."

He sighed, holding his face with his hand and pushing the hand back over his hair. You noticed now that there was pieces sticking out from its usually neat hold. "It's difficult to explain…" He said this without even sighing first but his voice broke a little. You noticed. Were his eyes red because he was crying?

You sat up quickly getting his attention. "Well then either make me understand or leave." You said angrily.

He suddenly glared at you, but his eyes softened after. He wanted to scold you for sitting up too fast, you knew it. He mumbled something under his breath instead then looked back at the floor. "I thought you were dead Ayame…. I mean there was way more blood than from Iruka… And the blood it just kept flowing." He leaned towards you and touched your wound. The only one you could tell you had. The head wound from where your head hit the window, and probably smashed it. "My mom went to get help because none of us had our phones. We were so stupid... She made me stay with you for what felt like an hour. I was covered in blood… Your blood... I panicked, I didn't know what to do. I've never felt so out of control in my life. I always have everything so planned and scripted. I didn't know what to do. I guess I was scared but why wouldn't I be… You did die. Just before the paramedics got there. You stopped breathing… I was holding you when you stopped breathing…." You reached your hand up to touch the wound yourself. Shika's hand was still there but he flinched away when your hands touched.

"Shikamaru… You were drunk… It was the alcohol telling you that you were scared. Really you didn't even care." He flinched when you said this.

"That's not true…" He mumbled. _'Of course I cared and I still do.'_ He thought. You didn't answer him so he went on. "Ayame… I'm sorry for what I did. And I'm sorry I didn't save Iruka…" He said looking down.

"You couldn't have… he died on impact-"

"That may be true but I didn't even try to help him. I barely even look at him… I saw you… And I just pulled you out…" He sounded so sad. So he did blame himself for part of it. Or at least he was guilty.

Without thinking you reached up and touched his face. Resting your hand on his cheek. His eyes met yours. "Shikamaru, nothing is your fault. I don't blame you for a thing." You felt tears stinging your eyes. "He was out for me. To get me because I lied and… and now… he is gone…. Forever." you choked up on the last word and cried, again.

Shikamaru stood up and you moved over so he could sit next to you on your hospital bed. He pulled you into a hug. You put your hands on his chest and your head on his shoulder and you cried. You felt him lean back against the wall but he didn't look at you, he just stared foreword, fresh tear prickling his eyes again, though you didn't know this fact. He held you tightly in his arms, stiff at first but softening easily.

"I heard she was awake now…" You heard a gentle voice talking. You felt Shika move, probably hushing the nurse or shooing her away. You didn't care. You felt safe right here and right now. And for the moment you felt okay even with the hole Iruka's death left.


	8. Chapter 8

"Third I am telling you that I can take care of that girl. I don't care." You could hear Hana fighting for you to stay in the village. You weren't sure what was going to happen. Kiba was also there of course, he was holding your hand next to you. You knew you had no family left and that Iruka had volunteered himself for you.

"Hana I know that you want to help her but I don't know if she'll want to stay in the village. Besides There are other families elsewhere who are more than ready to take in a child. I can't trust how stable you are right now. You loved him and he just died less than two weeks ago."

"Third you don't understand. I am Ayame's family. Even she would agree. Besides that I am perfectly stable and I can take care of myself. Ayame needs people that love her right now, not some random stranger who she has never met that supposedly want to care for her. She needs something as close to stable as she can get and moving her out and starting at a new school over two months into the school year is far from stable." You thought about this. It was true, you only knew Iruka and Kiba and Hana for two months. But you already felt you belonged here. You had people here who really cared about you. You never wanted to move less in your life.

"I know you can take care of yourself but maybe not Ayame."

"Ayame is a strong girl!"

"She has been crying the past half a week and she refuses to talk to me at all costs. Do you call that strong?"

"Not everyone can be as strong as you and never care!" You could hear Hana shout. She was stubborn, and you loved that about her. You knew however that Hiruzen did care. He had been taking care of Naruto secretly all this time. Heck, Naruto was orphaned and he can live on his own, why can't you? Maybe it was because you knew the Sarutobi's were friends of the Uzumaki's. You didn't have family that was friends of anyone in this village.

"That was very rude Hana." Lord Third said taking a large breath in. "We will have to talk about this later. Just tell Ayame to go home."

"SHE DOESN'T HAVE A HOME! A house is just a house without anyone else there." Hiruzen didn't answer. Or if he did you didn't hear it.

You wanted so badly to sleep somewhere other than a hospital bed aka where you have slept for the last half a week. Apparently while you were in a coma they couldn't actually check if anything was mentally wrong with you so you had to stay at the hospital longer. Although it wasn't as bad as it could have been. You had friends there with you every day. Hana had a couple of weeks off work so she was usually there during school hours and as soon as school let out almost all of your friends pretty much ran to come see you. Besides that you had people 'on the outside' bringing you food every day.

Although it was a little sad that the first day you got out of the hospital was a Wednesday so all your friends were at school, except Kiba who was skipping since Hana asked him to all though he probably would have done it on his own. You sighed, thinking of what could possibly happen.

Kiba squeezed your hand. "I hope this thing is over soon, not only am I falling asleep here I am starving." He grumbled. You laughed a little.

"I'm not very hungry." You said.

"Are you worried about what might happen?" Kiba questioned.

You looked at his face rather than the door you were staring at. "Not really worried I don't think… I'm just wondering… I don't want to be constantly moved around again. I like it here… I have friends here… And family. I may not be blood related but they are still family-"

"Hiruzen you can't be serious." You could hear Hana's voice must have been talking quietly before. It was clear that the conversation became more serious as now Hana was calling him by first name, a thing that not many would be brave enough to do around the village.

"It's the only thing I can think to do." Hiruzen answered slowly. You could tell whatever it was he had thought quite a bit about. But since Iruka has been dead a week and a half you should have figured that he would have thought hard about this.

"But sir, what about my offer? I am fully willing-"

"No. I have made a decision. Now you would be best to not contradict me and leave it as is." Kiba squeezed your hand. Did he know what was going to happen? You didn't have any thoughts at all on what could be happening. "I decided that you were right about the stable thing after all and that she shouldn't be moved."

"I didn't mean that stable. There is an extent to stable and I don't think that she will be that stable living there still."

"I don't care what you think. In the long run it may be better, for both of you. She can't live alone." Hiruzen must have dismissed Hana after that since the door opened and there stood Hana. "You are both strong, and I have faith that both of you will be just fine." You heard Hiruzen say from within his office right before Hana closed the door.

"You get to stay in the village." Hana said but you could tell there was something else. "I'm your guardian so you don't have to worry about anything."

"So am I bringing my stuff to your apartment or what?" You questioned. You really liked the idea of staying with Hana.

"No… Well I'll be moving my stuff into your place…"

"You mean Iruka's…" You said. You knew there was a twist on this. "I… I'm not sure if that is really… I don't know if…"

Hana gently placed her hand on your shoulder. "I know. But it's what Lord Third said so we'll have to deal. I'll let you have Hinata or Ino over tonight, y'know, for comfort and all. Well if their parents let them and all. I mean it is a school night."

You pondered that thought for a second. There was only one person you knew, besides Kiba, who would be aloud out on a school night. And as it stood you didn't really want to invite him over since it may get in the way of your swearing to never like him again plan. You didn't know what it was but something about him made it hard for you to not like him. At least he looked a lot better now since you woke up. He had been sleeping again a lot since you woke up. You remembered the embarrassment that washed through you when you found Hana sitting over you when you finally woke up again. Apparently Shika's comfort comforted you a lot more than you had expected and sadly you had fallen asleep there. Although the embarrassment wasn't all yours as Shika fell asleep too.

Ino hasn't let you live that down yet. And as for you and Shikamaru, well you haven't seen him a lot as he's been catching up on his sleeping but the last time you did see him it was okay until Hinata announced that she was leaving, which would have left you and Shika alone. But you and Shika both jumped up shouting a no to her.

"Aya if you want we can swing by the school on the way home, it's letting out soon so you can invite someone then." Hana said removing her hand from your shoulder.

"Can't I just steal my big brother for the night?" You asked.

"Kiba, go ask mom if you can stay the night I guess." Hana said.

"I'll take Aya with me and you can go get what stuff you need for the night and move it in. I'll tell mum the news too." Kiba stated then he lowered himself a bit with his back facing you. You felt so childish but accepted the piggyback ride. Usually you would think yourself too old for that kind of thing but this time you weren't concerned. You knew he was just trying to make you feel better any way that he could and making you think of other things made you feel better.

You sighed. The funeral was set to be Saturday. Today was Wednesday. You didn't want to relive it all again on Saturday.

"Aya you have to come. Not just for him but for me too. Please Ayame I need you there." Hana begged at your bedroom door. If your pillow had feeling it would hate you right now for making it a soggy blackened lump. But then you weren't too happy with yourself for being a soggy black crying mess. The funeral hadn't even started and you were already balling. What was wrong with you? "Ayame c'mon please come out. I can't do it alone." You could hear tears in Hana's voice too.

"I. Not. Coming. Out." You said through sobs.

"Ayam-" She seemed to have been cut off as if someone was talking to her. You couldn't hear past your shaky breathing. You tried to quiet yourself as you stared at your bedroom door. You watched your bedroom door crack open. You weren't sure why Hana hadn't openend the door before. Maybe she didn't want you to see her crying either.

"Ayame…" You looked away. You didn't want him to see you like this. You laid back face down into your pillow. He continued to walk towards you and sit on the edge of your bed placing his hand on your back. You sighed. He knew he didn't have to say anything. You would open up in no time so he just tilted his head towards the ceiling, leaned on the bed post and closed his eyes.

"I don't want to go." You mumbled into the pillow. "No one can make me."

"Aya you are sounding like a little child." He paused for a moment waiting for you to respond. You didn't answer him. "Aya, look at me." He said looking down at you, at the back of your head. You didn't want to look up. You didn't want him comforting you either. The more he did the more you liked him but you didn't want to like him at all. You swore that you would never like him again.

"C'mon guys we got to go. You better hurry down there because we are leaving now. You guys can catch up." You heard Ino's voice. Ino had been there all along and she still sent Shikamaru in to comfort you?

Shikamaru mumbled something then stood up. "Okay I don't want to be the bad guy so I'm not going to force you to go but you know Hana needs you there. She needs someone who at least somewhat understands her. She needs you." He waited a moment while you thought.

First thing you thought was how surprised you were that you stopped crying. Every night since you were released from the hospital you had someone sleeping over stopping you from really thinking. Except last night where you really thought about it a realised in some sense it WAS your fault because Iruka WAS out to pick you up because you didn't listen to him. You thought about what Shikamaru had just said. He was right and you did want to be there with Hana but you didn't know how well you would hold up.

"Aya you have all sorts of friends out there that will help you through this." It was as if he read your mind. "You are strong and stubborn, I know that. But it's okay to break down and cry. No one will hate you for it." He waited on you to respond then he turned away and started heading for the door.

You lifted your head off of your pillow and grabbed Shika's hand. "I'll come." He seemed to smile slightly. He pulled you up off of the bed and went to let go of your hand. You bit your lip fighting with yourself whether you wanted him to let go or not. You decided that you didn't want him to and you squeezed his hand. He seemed shocked at first and he froze up. You used your free hand to wipe the little makeup left on your face off. Shikamaru smirked slightly at you and relaxed then led you out of the room off to the funeral.

You took in a deep breath and smiled slightly. Or tried to at least. It was hard not to break down in the middle of the song. It was a sad song as it is never mind now that it has a whole new meaning to you. You had tears lines down your face from the continuous flow you had going while you sat in your seat and sang along. You didn't know who the person was singing I Will Remember You but you knew they had a beautiful voice.

You shifted in your seat right in the front row. You were between Hana and Naruto. Hana grabbed your hand causing you to look at her. She had tears in her eyes but for some bizarre reason she was also smiling. "Ayame thank you so much." She said tears thick in her voice.

You made a weak smile. "No problem." You whispered also with tears coating your voice. You had both given your eulogies already. Hana giving the most beautiful one. Yours on the other hand was simple. You really didn't have much to say. Naruto was stiff next to you. It has hard on him, you knew that. Iruka adopted Naruto when no one else would. After his parents died he became really rebellious and if it were not for Iruka he would have been sent away to live in some fancy orphanage.

Shika's POV

You had been to funerals before. They were all incredibly boring, but you had friends who needed you there. You were sure that every friend you had knew Iruka well. Not only that but you felt you needed to be there. You were the one who saw the crash. You were happy to see that Iruka had a closed casket. You knew that someone like Sakura wouldn't be strong enough to see what you saw that night. And you certainly didn't want to relive it.

You wanted to lean back and just listen to the words. Close your eyes and take it all in. You thought better than way, and remembered better that way. But you couldn't. Your arms rested on your knees and in your hunched over position you couldn't take your eyes off of Ayame. You sat across from her, next to Ino. You could feel Ino look at you from time to time but you also knew that she was crying and because of that you couldn't look at her. She was stronger than this, that's why she was your friend. You couldn't stand to see her crying too. Instead you watched Ayame. Her lips moving slightly with the song, you were sure she was singing along. Her slight smile when you knew she was thinking about something you bet Iruka had done at some point. She glanced back at Ino. No. She looked at you. She smiled slightly then looked back to the front. You felt yourself get warmer at the thought of her.

You scoffed at yourself at the thought, making Ino jump slightly then leaned your head back, staring up at the clouds.


	9. Chapter 9

Sunday you made a point of staying inside all day just watching tv with Hana. You still imagine Iruka in his spot on the couch, a spot that both of you avoided without really meaning to. The dogs were all laying on the floor. They really seemed to like having two floors to themselves now, now that they didn't have to share the house with Akamaru and Tsume's dogs. The three were probably the size, if not bigger than, St Bernards. They had whined all night. Although you suspected that Hana cried all night. Hana wouldn't move in to Iruka's room. She did go in, and sit on the bed. You knew that they used to share the bed. You knew that when they were together the first time she spent most of her time here. She didn't spend as much time here in the past month, but you think it was out of respect for you. Within a week of them getting back together they were the same as before. That's what Kiba and Naruto told you anyways.

You remembered that it was Hana who came to your house in the pouring rain, with all three dogs, to beg forgiveness from Iruka. Of course he gave her trouble because he knew that it was him who needed to apologize and be forgiven. After a heartfelt talk with him about a month ago you remember he told you that after two years of dating he was getting ready to propose. He wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do though which is why he started noting Hana's behaviour even more. Which is why he noticed her suspicious sneakiness. So, in a drunken state one night he called her out for cheating. She was so appalled that he clearly didn't even trust her that she simply left. You knew from Kiba that it was the first time he had even seen his strong stubborn spunky sister break down. He told you later that the second time was looking down at you in the hospital bed while the nurse told her the news about Iruka.

You always imagined Iruka was the more emotional one of the two. That was easy enough to tell because he was the one who was depressed over a relationship that he ended. Hana would never know about Iruka's wishes to propose, it would be too hard on her to learn after the fact. That would be your secret to keep.

"Did you want to order in a pizza or something?" Hana asked while looking at a flyer from the mail box.

You glanced over at her. You didn't think she had moved all morning. She woke up on the couch and stayed there in her pyjamas all day. You then looked down at yourself. You hadn't washed your face when you got home last night, you just got into bed, in your black clothing and all. It was the first night that you didn't cry, but that's because you think you were all cried out from the day. You remember waking up to the rain on your window and a crash of thunder. It was late in the year for a thunderstorm. You thought maybe it was a sign. You got up and changed into sweats and a tee, went downstairs and sat on the chair all day.

"Maybe we should just go get Ramen. Maybe we need to get out of the house." You said.

Hana paused. A bright flash of lightening came and the power went. "Maybe not." She laughed lightly. So instead you got up and went into the kitchen, finding some canned soup that you decided to make. It was better than not eating at all.

You both picked at the soup then after Hana cleaned up the kitchen. It was nice to see her at least doing something. Tomorrow you would be back to school and Hana would be back at work and maybe then you could both be a little happier.

You were wrong. Monday was the same when you got home from school. As was Tuesday. The difference being that on Tuesday Nartuo brought over some pizza for dinner. You knew that usually on Tuesdays Naruto spent time with Iruka so you assumed he would be over. So you all sat in silence. Most people just avoided you, afraid to strike a nerve when they talked to you. Both you and Naruto were avoided. Kiba tried to come around a couple of times, but Hana would snap at him for being dorky.

By Wednesday you wanted nothing to do with tutoring or school. Apparently your teachers believed that even though you were off for two weeks because you were in the hospital you should still be caught up. The first day back was fine, they were pretty nice. The second day they were a little less patient. And the third you were being called stupid. Well by Obito and Kakashi. Orochimaru genuinely didn't seem to care, like he was distracted, all the time.

You were sitting on the edge of the sidewalk at the end of the day, strapping on your roller blades. You knew the snow was coming soon so soon you would have to stop wearing them. For now you were fine just wearing the uniform pants and sweater with a light scarf wrapped around your neck and a hat. You glanced over your shoulder, feeling like someone was looking at you, as you often did. Your friends were all concerned but none of them really knew how to help so they stood back and watched instead.

There was one person who wasn't watching though. You saw him leaned against a wall with his arms behind his head. Choji was talking to him. You watched him, you could see his breathing in his lean body. He gently scratched the back of his head. Then he peeked through his eyelids at you. You immediately blushed and looked away. You still didn't know what to make of the hospital incident.

You then looked up to see Ino's smiling face in front of yours. "Do you want to walk together?" She asked still smiling. You nodded softly then let her take your hand, pulling you up to your feet and leading with you. You noticed Hinata ride up on your other side on her bike. She peddled slowly and you bladed slowly while Ino complained about her grades in her one class. You were glad to still have the girls with you.

_I tried so hard and got so far. But in the end, it doesn't even matter._

"Shino… What are you thinking waking me up on a Saturday?" You grumbled into your phone. You adjusted slowly, realising that You almost kicked Kiba in the head. He was the one who stayed with you last night, but he always slept at the opposite end of you, and on top of the blankets. He was always warm, you didn't know how he did it.

"I didn't realise I'd wake you up. I just got home from my father son bonding crap again. I'm sorry I wasn't there at the funeral with you."

"Its okay. Although I don't think I can forgive you for waking me up." You thought about your kind friend. He left the Friday before, coming to wish you luck with the funeral and the back to school thing before leaving. His dad has worked with the police force for a very long time. Usually doing desk work. By working there so long he got a lot of time off. He took Shino for a week further south to where the animals and bugs were migrating. Shino loved nature, hos whole family did.

"Sorry. How about you come and hang out with me today."

You thought about this for a moment. Since the funeral no one had asked you outright to hang out they all just said 'If you need me I'll be there for you' or 'just give me a call if you are feeling upset.' Well, all except Shika. Just thinking about it made you blush.

_Near the end you were all trying to be happy remembering the good times with Iruka. You felt horrible because all the good times they were explaining, you hadn't shared any with him. Usually you were fighting with him because he wasn't your father. You walked off to the side staring at the fresh grave. You thought hard about the things you could have done. Should have done. You wished so badly that you knew more about Iruka, you felt like you didn't know him at all. You leaned down and touched the soil._

"_It hurts but it is the way things are. And you will always wish you knew more but that's how everyone feels when they lose someone." You heard Shikamaru say. 'One of my mentors told me that once' He squatted down next to you. You didn't answer him except for nodding your head. "I know you've probably heard this alot today and you may not believe me but I am here for you and I don't want to see you get hurt and because of that I will always be here for you." You nodded and leaned your head into Shika's shoulder. He took his arm around your back and let it rest on your shoulder. You knew even though you didn't want to believe him that he told the truth._

"Aya?"

"Yeah sure Shino I'd love to hang out with you today." You said.

"Okay I'll come over there… Eventually."

"Sure." You said half laughing at his failure to think of a good time that he was sure he wouldn't be late for. You lazily got dressed wearing simple black pants and a green half sleeve top, throwing Shino's sweater, which you still hadn't returned on. You half ran down the stairs as you heard a knock on the door. While opening it you quickly wrapped your scarf around your neck and put your hat on "So what are we doing today then?" You asked Shino as you opened the door. You couldn't help but laugh at he surprised look on his face. He had his right hand up about to knock again and he was probably surprised by the speed you opened the door at.

"Uh…" He recovered and stuck his hand in his pocket. "Well we can walk until we find something to do. Or we can see who we can find around Konoha." You saw him glance down at Kiba's shoes beside the door. You shrugged at him as an answer.

You then nodded at the first suggestion. "You realise that at 8 in the morning on a Saturday NO ONE will be up. Even Hana isn't up yet and she gets up early to walk the dogs." You stated, reminding you that you had to leave a note to let her know where you were and whom you are with. You finished writing the note then followed Shino out the door.

"I was wondering what happened to that sweater." Shino seemed to think out loud.

You glanced over at him and laughed a little. "Yeah sorry… Did you want it back?" You questioned shrugging out of it.

"No. Its chilly this morning you should keep it on." He stated. You nodded and both of you walked on silently. "I have an idea of where we can go." He stated. Then he grabbed your wrist and pulled you off of the road into the forest. You were a little confused but in turn you trusted Shino enough to follow him anyways. "I think just about everyone in the village is shown this place one time or another and usually people come here to think. But I figure that you probably don't know about it." Shino said still pulling you along. He helped you over large stumps and rocks and slowed down when you did.

"Okay so what is it exactly?" You questioned getting crazy thoughts of what it could be, such as an abandoned building or garden, or maybe an abandoned mansion with a huge garden.

"This…" He said stopping and pulling you in front of him. You looked around and your jaw dropped. It wasn't anything man made. It was completely natural. Directly in front of you was a pond like thing. Well it was more of a spring. There was a miniature waterfall that flowed into it. There were some rocks sitting along the edge of water. You walked over slowly and sat on one of them looking in the sparkling clean water. "Its not much during the fall, I mean its much better in the spring. A lot of the trees are cherry trees so in the spring there are cherry blossoms every where." Shino stated.

"I think its beautiful now." You said still in awe. "Why didn't anyone show me this sooner." You wondered out loud.

"I'd assume its because for the people of Konoha this is just a part of everyday life. No one thinks anything really special about it except for the beauty of course." Shino said.

"Thank you for showing me this then." You said slipping off your shoes and socks and sliding your feet into the cold water. But then of course it was cold. It was the second week of November. You shivered but put your foot in anyways. It was soothing no matter how cold it was. "How deep is it?" You said twisting around to look at Shino. He was examining a dragonfly that was rested on his index finger.

Shino looked up at you shocked and the dragonfly flew away. "Well I'm not sure. My dad told me that the very centre never ended. But that's only because it drains underground." He said seeming to think about it. "It seems ridiculous that it never ends." He stated mostly to himself shaking his head. He must have believed his father at one point. You wanted to laugh at him but before you could something caught your eye. Whatever it was it was moving fast.

Shino noticed it too and tried to follow it with his eyes. He also seemed to do something with his phone. You jumped up out of the water and stood beside Shino. Close beside him maybe in fear but you weren't sure. Before you knew it there was a man standing in front of you. He had White hair much like yours and a worn down face but you knew he wasn't that old. His jail uniform was torn in some place, probably during his run. There were sirens going off somewhere nearby. They were just police sirens though. If it were a real issue the village sirens would be ringing too.

"Mizuki?" You questioned slowly. You had never met your cousin, well not that you remember but you had seen pictures of him just before he went into jail. Him and Iruka were best friends so naturally Iruka had a few pictures of Mizuki here and there. Not to mention that looking into his eyes was like looking in to your own.

"Hmm… Ayame you have really grown up since I last saw you. But then again the last time we met were a little baby with a tuft of white hair on your head. Everyone told me how you were going to grow up and look like me. I'm surprised, you look pretty close." Mizuki said. "Come give your big cousin a hug." He said stepping towards you. He had a crazy look in his eyes. His sleeves were torn revealing what looked like a tiger tattoo on his shoulder.

"Never!" You practically shouted at him. He flinched back a step.

"You should be in jail, Mizuki." Shino stated.

Mizuki looked away from you and looked at Shino. "You are very observant. If you looked closer you may see that I broke out." He looked back at you. You flinched at the look you were getting. "So my darling cousin. Would you like to travel with me a little bit?"

"No…" You said, not firmly enough it seemed since Mizuki stepped forward and grabbed your upper arm.

"What was that?" He hissed into your ear.

"I said NO!" You said firmly, staring him right in the face.

'_Count on me to say the wrong thing.'_ You thought, seconds before he smacked you across the face.


	10. Chapter 10

Shika's POV

You could hear your dad's beeper going off loudly. You picked it up off the counter beside you and took it up to your dad's room to give him the message. He had already promised you that the next call he got he was going to take you with him. You were following in your his tracks after all. You wanted to be a cop too, but maybe more an intel guy. That was kind of what your dad did anyways. Despite how drunk he was most of the time he was smarter than you. But you knew the best part of your dad's job was that more than often he got to work with the FBI meaning he got to travel more than a normal cop. Although he couldn't take you with him on those missions.

You stood outside your dad's bedroom door while he got dressed. He was supposed to be off the beat, which means that it was something serious if they were calling him in. You heard the sound of vibrating on a hard surface. You knew it must have been your phone. You had left it on your dresser. You glanced at your fathers closed door and decided you had time. He apparently didn't find this that urgent.

You picked it off of your dresser and pulled it from the charger. Looking at the ID you saw _Shino._This was odd he never text you, never mind a phone call. Putting the phone to your ear you heard a loud buzzing noise, like it was inside a pocket. You knew this wasn't a time to talk. You listened and heard Ayame talking. She said something that you couldn't make out. Your heart dropped to your stomach. Was this call linked with wherever your dad was going? Then you heard Shino's much closer voice shout "Ayame, NO!" followed by a splash and the call cut off. It had to be whatever your dad was being called for.

"C'mon Shikamaru." Your father called. You followed him down the stairs as he pulled on his jacket over the bulletproof vest. Usually he gave that to you. That only meant that whatever this was he was going to tell you to hide and don't get seen. You hated those days. Sure he was just caring but still. You are a genius, top of your grade, you can handle yourself.

You sighed at this thought. Your dad seemed to know exactly where he was going. Normally when you saw someone waiting for your dad you would expect it to be Iniochi or Choza but today you got the surprise of Hana and Shibi. Both looked worried and impatient, land you were certain they both saw the worry on your face. Sure you should be able to trust Shino to take care of himself and Ayame… Who were you kidding Ayame could take care of herself any day. Following Hana's dogs you took a sharp turn leading you to the place everyone knew about. It was always beautiful and you usually napped here as a way to hide from your mother when she was in one of her moods, which was all of them. You felt something, maybe jealousy, that your friend brought Ayame here. It was probably her first time to the clearing and that memory will always be with Shino. You shook your head at the thought, it was a stupid on anyways. There was more important things to think about when your dad pointed to a large rock and signalled for you to stand behind it.

Ayame's POV

Your cousin threw you to the ground when you refused him and pulled something from his pocket. A gun._'Where in the world did he get a gun he JUST got out of jail?'_ You thought finding this completely and entirely odd. You thought of all the scenarios and all of them ended with him shooting you in the foot. It was like you were internally panicking and just couldn't focus properly. But then again, he had a gun, of course you were panicked. Mizuki was standing over you menacingly. You tried to think back to that tiny part in your life that you were in karate. You rolled yourself over kicking Mizuki in the back of the leg knocking him down into the water.

The gun shot off as you did so. You panicked and stupidly looked at your foot, paying no attention to your cousin as he pulled you into the freezing water with him. And worst of all now Shino's sweater was soaked which more or less meant you couldn't wear it the rest of the day. _'Jeez Ayame think straight as in stop worrying about the rest of the day and be concerned about surviving right now.'_ You told yourself. You were being so stupid today. Over thinking everything. Complaining inwardly about everything. It made you think of Shikamaru.

You shook your head and swam up to the surface. You were sure you kicked Mizuki on the way too. Or at least you hoped you did. He'd deserve it for ruining your damn day. You surfaced to a very worried looking Shino. He pulled you up out of the water and appeared to examine you, making sure you were okay. Then he looked behind you in to the water again.

You both stepped away from the water and looked in where the bubbles were coming from. "Ayame!" You heard Hana's relieved voice behind you. You spun to look at her and found Shibi, Shikaku, and the Haimaru triplets all looking oddly at your soaking wet form. Well except Shibi, he seemed to be silently communicating with his son. You heard a click and turned around quickly, panicked. Mizuki's gun wasn't pointed at you though. It was pointed behind you. Pointed at Hana.

"What is this Ayame? She isn't family." Mizuki purred menacingly.

"Mizuki put the gun down." Shikaku more or less growled with authority. You looked straight into the barrel of the gun now. Although oddly enough you weren't scared. You were more concerned with the family behind you. He moved the guns aim back to the others behind you. Shino grabbed your sleeve and tried to pull you away to semi more safety while also stepping slightly in front of you. He seemed so calm, like none of this was fazing him. Looking back at his dad you saw the same calmness in him and Shikaku. You saw Shikaku make a quick movement, you assumed for his own gun.

You heard a shot from directly in front of you, and before anyone else could react you jumped out from behind Shino and dived into Mizuki, taking him back into the water. This time the coldness of the water didn't really surprise you. Once you stopping moving in the water you started to swim up. Something caught your foot from under the water. Your cousin's hand twisted around your ankle gently then pulled you straight down below him. You grabbed his ankle as he tried to swim up and pulled him to your level, wrestling him under the water. You were losing air and you knew it but you wanted to get him out of your way before you could swim to safety.

You somewhat kicked him in the gut as he grabbed your ankle again and threw you again. You saw the air escape his lips from the kick and you were sure now that he would need to surface. You had to get to surface now. You looked around seeing a good patch of light away from Mizuki. Hopefully he'd go up where you both went down before. You were sure someone would be there waiting. You swam as fast as you could up to the surface. You ended up all the way across the pond from everyone else. As soon as he saw you he ran over.

"Are you okay Aya?" Shino questioned. You nodded. You then looked behind them. Shikaku was kneeling down on the ground clutching his leg. Shikamaru was beside him looking worried. Shikamaru must have been hiding, waiting to come out at the right time.

"Are you okay?!" You ran over to them, you knew that Shino and Shibi were waiting at the ponds surface. Shikaku had a bullet wound directly through his leg.

"Do I look okay to you?" Shikaku stated flatly. You couldn't tell if he was angry or just saying it cause he could. Either way your face fell. Partially in shame, partially embarrassment. "Where's Mizuki?"

"Oh well he was-" You started turning around lucky enough to see a flash of white hair escaping into the forest followed by a strange laugh. "Why am I such a screw up?" You half cried half sobbed watching Shibi and Shino staring at the same thing. He must have surfaced at the other side, knowing that he was outnumbered. Or he wasn't as brave without the gun.

"I was wondering the same thing!" Shikaku half yelled at you. "That man has been a… Hmmm how do I explain this… Your _cousin_ has been very bad and you just helped him get away."

You stared at him shocked. Your face was frozen with teary eyes. "Shikaku maybe you're over exaggerating." Hana said slowly, not really wanting to go against him.

"I don't think so." He huffed shooing Hana's hands away from his leg. "You know full well that her letting him get away is a HUGE danger and she caused it. And worst of all now I will have to go out and find him. And you know full well that you will have to as well, Hana." He said still furious.

The fact that he pressed that this oh-so-horrible-man was you cousin really hit you. But in the end you knew full well he was right. "S-Sorry sir…" You whispered.

"You better be-"

"Dad lay off." Shikamaru said standing behind him with his hand on his father's shoulder. "She's already torn up about it." Shikaku seemed to shut up slightly. Shikamaru gave you the I'm-really-sorry-about-that look.

Everyone was silent and before long Hana and Shibi were helping Shikaku, no matter how much he protested, away. "Tell your mother I'll bring him home later tonight kay Shika?" Hana questioned even though she didn't wait for an answer she just continued walking.

That left Shikamaru and Shino staring at you with your face in your hands. "Just forget about him, he doesn't know what he is saying." Shikamaru said, not fully looking at you. He was probably concerned for his dad right?

The wet and cold hadn't really hit you till now. "N-no h-he's r-r-right." You said hugging yourself with your teeth chattering.

"You need into something dry." Shika stated, pulling your now droopy hat off of your head. You looked down at yourself. The scarf was un ravelled and plastered to your body. All of your clothing was actually plastered to your skin, making everything look tighter than it was. Your jeans were heavy and uncomfortable, you were pretty sure they were plastered to you for life. Shino's sweater was holding all the water. Everything felt heavy.

"You should take of the sweater. It's because it is so wet that you are so cold." Shino stated. You nodded slowly and started to peel it off, Shino taking it from your hands when it was off.

Still looking at the ground you started to walk towards where Hana had left. Wanting nothing more than to get home and curl up in your warm bed. Before you got far you could feel something warm on your shoulders. You instinctively grabbed the fabric and pulled it around yourself like a blanket. Glancing over you saw Shikamaru in only a dark green hoodie with his hands in the front pouch. His eyes met yours and he smiled slightly then kept looking ahead.

You felt a blush creeping up so you pulled his black jacket up over your cheeks to cover them. It smelled good. Like grass and trees, and something sweet.

"Are you okay Ayame? You look strange." Shino stated. It was the blush, you knew it.

"Just cold…" you whispered.

"Do you even know where you are going?" Shika asked, raising an eyebrow at you.

"Home." you muttered.

Shikamaru, who was now walking behind you, grabbed your shoulders to steer you to the right. You raised an eyebrow at him when he walked next to you again. "My dad is at your 'home'. Besides, I need to tell mother what happened." He answered sighing.

You frowned slightly. Your legs were feeling numb and weak. You would be happier if you could just take your jeans off as you swore you could feel them freezing. November was not kind to you. Shikamaru's house was at the other side of town. Your house was only a block away now. But he was right. You didn't want to face Shikaku again. Plus you knew by now that a medical team would be there in the house and that Hana would take the opportunity for you to get checked to for hypothermia or pneumonia or AIDS. She really took the motherly thing a little too far.

You were lost in your thoughts and hadn't even noticed that you all stopped. What was worse, Shikamaru was bent in front of you with his back to you. He sighed. "I said, get on." He said rolling his eyes. You stared at him.

"It is because you are wobbling all over the place Ayame that he wants to carry you." Shino explained. You were what?

"You look like you are drunk Aya, now get on." Shikamaru stated flatly. You heart skipped a beat at him calling you Aya. He never called you that. He was basically the only person that never called you Aya. You smiled slightly and climbed on. He gripped your thighs tightly and adjusted you before standing straight up again. "No wonder you were walking like that. Can you even feel your legs?" You smiled, pulling his jacket around to cover both of you and instantly felt his warmth. You felt your own cheeks getting warm and let your head fall to the back of his neck, placing your hands on either side, on his shoulders.

"Getting tired Aya?" Shino questioned with a hint of a laugh in his voice.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed. "Of course she is I'm doing all the work here. Next time we go somewhere you are carrying me." Shika almost grumbled.

You laughed a little then just rested there, feeling his body moving up and down with his slow breathing. It reminded you of the hospital bed. It was moments like these that you had to remind yourself that you couldn't get involved again.

"There you guys are. Jeez took you long enough." Kiba said running up to you three from his seat on Shikamaru's doorstep.

"Yeah yeah that's nice." Shikamaru said. "What's in your hand?" He then asked. You lifted your head to see what Shikamaru could possibly be talking about.

"Oh Hana sent me over with some clean dry stuff for Aya. Don't worry I made sure not to touch your bra." Kiba said smirking. Your face turned bright red at the mention of your bra. You tucked your head back down to hide it.

"Shino help me out with the jacket so we can watch Aya kick Kiba's ass." Shikamaru said starting to shrug the jacket off. Now Shino held both his soaked sweater in one hand and the jacket in the other.

"Oh Aya come on in and we'll get you all dried up." Yoshino called from the door, waving you in. You snatched your clothing from Kiba then stomped inside, rushing to the bathroom, which Yoshino pointed out for you.

You were beyond thankful to find a blow dryer in their bathroom all set up ready to go. Kiba must have told her you'd be coming soaked. You sighed as you peeled off your wet clothing. You defiantly knew you were cold now. Especially as you felt the rush of warmth hit you when you dabbed your body dry on a towel. You then pulled on your undergarments followed by the boot cut jeans, black tank top and a dark green thin sweater.

Blow-drying your hair was a bit of a hassle but you got over it as you finished up and walked out of the bathroom. You could hear Shika talking to someone but no one answering. Funny since you didn't hear the phone ring. "Jeez it's about time Aya, what did you take a shower or something?" Kiba said as you walked in the living room where the guys sat taking turns on some video game. Shino was playing now. You sat down on the floor leaning against the couch between where Shika and Kiba sat. You stuck your tongue out at Kiba then looked at the phone holder. You read the caller id. _Umino I_. You wondered why Hana hadn't changed the caller ID yet. Maybe she liked it.

"But what about school?" Shikamaru asked the person on the other end who you now assumed was his father. "Yeah okay dad." Bingo you were right. "Sure I'll be there… Yeah soon… Okay I'll go pick it up on my way… Yeah dad… Bye." Shikamaru hung up the phone then without looking at anyone he got up and wandered into the kitchen. You could hear him mumble something to his mom then he appeared again and went up the stairs, you assumed to his room.

Yoshino walked into the room drying her hands on her apron. She looked up the stairs then down at the floor and shook her head. "What's going on?" You asked slightly worried as Shino and Kiba switched spots so Kiba could play.

"You go ask him." Yoshino said shrugging as if she didn't know even though you could tell she did. You nodded and sighed. Then you slowly stood up and wandered up the stairs trying to look like you didn't really care. His bedroom door was wide open so you naturally welcomed yourself in and sat on his bed. He was leaned into his closet pulling things out and shoving them in a small bag.

"So… umm… What's going on?" You questioned. He jumped a little at the sound then turned and smirked at you.

"I finally get to go out in the field with my dad." He said almost trying to be enthusiastic. You knew he wasn't though, you herd him protesting with his dad on the phone.

"You don't want to though…" You made a realization then. "You're only going because your dad can't walk. Because I got him shot…" You said looking down at the corner of Shika's bed. Pretending to fix the already perfect green comforter.

"No, actually I've been waiting for a while for this. It is partially because he can't walk but-"

"I'm sorry…" You interrupted. "Now you gotta go and its dangerous… What if you get hurt? You are going after Mizuki right?" You asked the last part, but you knew what the answer was. You looked up to his face with sad eyes.

"Yes… That's all true but I'll be fine, I'll have both my dad and Hana with me. They have never failed at a mission." He said trying to assure you. He was a little fidgety though which meant he had to leave soon. "Now I need you to promise not to worry. Just go ahead with school and stuff and you'll be fine. But I really have to go. The faster we catch up to him the sooner I'll be back." You nodded. You weren't sure what you were nodding to but you did. "I'm going by the station to get some stuff for my dad but then we are leaving… If you want to see us off come to the village gates in about an hour." He said. You nodded again. Even though you listened you didn't hear how much Shikamaru wanted you there.

Shika's POV

You looked at your mom and your dad saying their farewells. Kiba and Tsume saying bye to Hana. Your mother had already engulfed you in a huge hug. Ino was watching you although you didn't particularly notice, which was probably unfair to her. You looked back towards the village. Why wasn't Ayame here? Just as your friend. You barely noticed Choji standing there talking to you. You turned your attention to him. He smiled. "You're thinking about her again. I can see it in your eyes." You looked at him and smiled slightly. Of course he knew what you were thinking, the two of you had been best friends since you were really little. Same with Ino but being a girl you didn't feel that she understood exactly the way he did, or maybe you just didn't want her to.

"C'mon Shikamaru we should get going." Hana said. She seemed exhausted but then she has had to listen to your dad for the past three hours and knowing him he was probably complaining the whole time. She was probably worried about Ayame. Aya had just lost her father figure and now Hana had to leave her too. But at least Hana would be coming back. You were sure that Hana was making plans with your mother for the care of Aya. You had heard them on the phone for a while as you were leaving to go get your dads stuff from the station. They must have called back while you were talking to Ayame.

You were still kicking yourself for that. You knew that going after a huge murder suspect and whatnot was really dangerous. In that room you had the urge to just tell her that you loved her, kiss her then go. You weren't sure you loved her… it was possible but logically speaking you only knew eachother for so long. You never ignored your instincts before. "Okay." You finally answered Hana. You were pulled into and huge hug by Choji and Ino at the same time which oddly enough Ino's hug hurt more, then you looked away from the village and walked away, following Hana and your stubborn limping father.

Aya's POV

You sat up on a rooftop that you could see the village gates from. You didn't want to go say bye. You felt like shit. You still blamed yourself for your cousin getting away. Now you were losing two people that you loved. Besides you didn't want to go down there and end up balling your eyes out making a fool of yourself in front of Shikamaru's dad. He already hated you enough as it was. Maybe it wasn't that though. Maybe you just didn't want to admit to him that you loved him. You sighed. Finally they were turning to walk away. Good this was killing you. Just knowing he could be gone for months. But what if he never came back…

Your feet reacted before your mind knew what you were doing. You were running full tilt through the village towards the gate. You didn't care about the shocked faces that you passed. The gates were closing as you got near. Ino seemed to notice you first and she yelled for someone to stop the gates. You'd have to thank her later. You slipped through the bit of a crack that was left and ran right into Shika's back instinctively wrapping your arms around his stomach. "Don't die okay!" You wailed sounding like a child. You closed your eyes as you placed you face on his back, breathing heavily from the run. "I lo- like you a lot and I don't want you to get hurt!" You half shouted glad to catch yourself before saying the l word. Love. You could tell that no one was watching you, which you were thankful for. You were a mess. In fact Hana and Shikaku were kind enough to take a few extra steps more, but they still waited.

Shikamaru seemed shocked, but he soon placed his hands on yours and gently pulled you around to his front you see your tear-streamed face. You didn't try to hide the tears though you just stared into his eyes. He wiped your tears away. Then he leaned forward, kissing your forehead. You closed your eyes. "I promise I'll be back in no time." He said half smiling. He pulled you into a hug, which you returned then he pulled away. He placed and hand on your face while you held his free hand. "Don't worry about me."

You felt a hand on your shoulder. You looked and saw Ino with Kiba not to far behind her. "C'mon Shikamaru." You heard Shikaku sigh. Shikamaru nodded then let his hand drop from your face. He turned and started walking back to his father. You almost forgot to let go of his hand but you did let him go finally. Then you just watched them disappear.


	11. Chapter 11

_Christmas is coming up. I wish you guys were home. I miss you all. Well maybe not Shikaku… But you and Shikamaru I miss. More than I probably should with the latter. Kiba misses you too. Sometimes he and I sleep at the house. Mostly when Tsume is giving him a hard time. Yoshino is okay with it, as long as I check in again the next morning. I've been busy. Like I mentioned last time, I'm working at the flower shop with Ino. Her mom won't let me make arrangements yet, but I would rather leave that for Ino anyways. I'm also helping out at the Nara farm. I didn't even know you could farm deer! Or for that matter how much work Shikamaru did around the house. No wonder her is always so tired at school. How is he? I haven't heard from him. I guess you don't have much time for letters anyways. Well, I love you Hana. Come home soon, okay?_

_Aya._

You looked down at the ground under your feet. Mostly to make sure you didn't see any ice. You had a pretty nasty fall a few days ago so you really didn't want to repeat it. Over your shoulder was a shiny new pair of skates, in your mittened hand was that next letter you were sending out to Hana. This was the third letter you had sent since she left a month ago. You haven't had one back but you knew they were all busy. They must have been anyways. That's the only reason they weren't home yet.

Yoshino bought you the skates on a whim. She refused to buy Christmas gifts for Shikamaru or Shikaku claiming that if they wanted something so bad they could simply come home for it. It was hard being around Yoshino all the time. She went from fits of anger to sadness all the time. You knew the anger was really sadness though, like she was trying to be tough. Shikaku had been out of the home before for up to 3 months at a time. Shikamaru on the other hand had never left the home. You knew that was what was hardest on Yoshino.

Today was Sunday, so after sending out the letter you made your way to the flower shop. Ino always worked Sunday morning and you worked Sunday afternoon. "Good morning Ino." You said smiling. She looked exhausted, as she always did. She hadn't been sleeping right lately. You figured she was worried about Shikamaru. Everyone was, without word from them in weeks people started thinking the worst. No one ever said anything to you, because that was family out there, but you knew they were thinking it. Not you though, you had faith. Shikamaru was the smartest person you have ever met. Hana and Shikaku were both experienced so you knew they would all be just fine. You figured they were just out of the nation or something. You didn't really get how three hours gave Mizuki such a huge head start but it didn't matter, you had faith.

"The usual?" Ino questioned but at the same time she was already grabbing the two white carnations from the cuttings fridge behind her. She handed you the flowers and you left. You never paid anymore; they just took it off your weekly cheques. You then started the walk to the graveyard.

You started by brushing the snow off the top, then you placed the flowers on the tops; one from you and one from Hana. You knew she would have if she could. Iruka's stone always depressed you a bit. Usually they would say things like 'loving father, brother, and son' but Iruka had no real family. He wasn't married. His just said 'friend' instead. You knew he was so much more than that though. He was Hana's rock and your support. He was your family when no one else would. It was only because of him that you became close with Hana. Maybe she had felt she had a responsibility to you, to save you like Iruka did. He saved Naruto too, when he had no one else, despite having no one himself. Iruka was an understated Hero.

"Let's go Aya." You heard a soft voice behind you. Every Sunday he met you here and you would both go to the clearing. You turned and smiled slightly, following him.

"Do you think the ice is good? It feels like it is warming up." You stated, following in step with Shino.

"It takes more than a day of warmth to thaw ice Ayame." He stated like it was common knowledge. Then he looked down at you a smiled slightly. You waved to Hinata who you saw crossing the street towards you.

"I think Naruto and Sakura are dating…" She stated sadly upon joining you.

You laughed slightly. Everyday Hinata worried about this. And everytime you explained that she doesn't have to wait for Naruto to realise his feelings, she could just tell him hers. Plus with the amount of times you had seen Sakura hit/ punch/ slap/ pinch him you were sure he didn't actually want any, and she definitely didn't. You actually knew Nartuo wasn't in to Sakura. Unfortunately for Hinata though you also knew he really wasn't thinking of anyone in that way. He has been separating himself from everyone else again. Without Iruka he has no family, again.

"Why don't you try just spending time with him Hinata? Just you and him."

This made your shy friend turn a deep deep red. You laughed then pushed aside the last branch in to the clearing. The ice was already cleared, as if it didn't snow this morning. You looked to see Kiba sitting on a rock by the edge of the ice, with a shovel in his hand. He looked up at you sadly with his hand on Akamaru's head.

"I don't know how Hana dealt with mom so long. She is driving me insane." He sighed.

"Cheetos and movies tonight?" You asked. Kiba just smiled in response. Then he got off the rock so you could use it to put on your skates.

You watched from the rock as Hinata skated in circles around everyone else, so fluid and perfect. You wondered if she had lessons as a kid. You knew she didn't get lessons for dancing though so maybe now. Then you glanced over at Kiba, trying too hard to go too fast and wiping out, a lot. Shino just did the full circle slowly with his hands behind his back looking at the sky. He would occasionally glance over at you, happy to see you smiling at Hinata and Kiba.

"Whats up Shino?" Hinata asked, stopping for a moment in front of him. You could barely hear their soft voices.

"She is so much stronger than we all realise. They may not even come back and she is still smiling." You blushed slightly at his answer that you were sure you weren't supposed to hear. Then you pushed yourself off the rock and tried again. New skates were hard to wear in; you didn't envy figure skaters now.

_Hey Hana. I wish you would write back. I'm worried. I know you told me not to worry but I can't help it. I could really use you around now. I'm kind of getting lost a lot. I'm not ready to be on my own. I need a mom still I think. I don't really know… I never really had one any ways… But I like having you…. So please just come back. This is letter number seven, hopefully it is lucky._

_Love, Aya._

Christmas passed as well as Hinata's birthday. Hinata, being her, didn't want to make a big deal of it and just had you, TenTen and Ino over for the night. Ino cancelled because she had to work early, but you knew it was because she had become so worried. You heard that the station hadn't received any word from any of them either in three weeks now, and Ino's dad informed her that the station was sending out a new, larger, crew for Mizuki and preparing for the worst for the others.

You cried a bit. Thinking about Hana. But Shino was there, he reminded you how stubborn Hana would be, and why you couldn't cry over them. He also reminded you that everyone else needed you too. That became much clearer the next time you saw Ino. You were passing her at the park. She was sitting on a swing that looked almost frozen in place. Choji was standing next to her, leaned against the set, with a bag of chips in his hand that he was eating incredibly slowly, for him anyways. Shino was walking with you, it was a Sunday afterall and you were coming back from the graveyard. You found it odd that Ino was not at work when you picked up the flowers, but you found her here.

"Hey Ino, Choji." You smiled as warmly as you could, reminded by Shino's words. They needed you.

"Go away Ayame. And take your fake, not caring attitude with you." Ino practically growled. Choji stared at you then her with wide eyes.

You turned to go, not wanting to encourage her. She would come around later you were sure. Text you an apology. Shino tugged on your sleeve when you paused though. "I miss them too you know. You only have one person out there. I have two." You whispered. Whispering was the only way you could be sure that your voice wouldn't falter on you.

"They are dead Ayame! Stop pretending anything different. Stop smiling when you know as well as anyone else that they are dead! They aren't coming back-" You heard Ino's voice falter before she looked away. Then she got up from the swing and started to walk away.

"Shikamaru is the smartest and strongest person I know. I bet he is just sleeping peacefully somewhere." Choji laughed nervously before following his companion.

You stood, frozen in shock. How could she be so blunt? How could she do that to you?! You ran after her, skidding to a stop in front of her. She stared at you, tears brimming her wide eyes. You lifted your hand, tears now brimming your eyes, and planted a slap right across her face. She touched her cheek before turning and walking around you.

You ran home, as fast as you could. Letting the tears roll over your cheeks, flying from your face. You ran past the Ramen stand, smelling all its flavours. You could hear Kiba and Naruto inside fighting about something, but you ignored it. You kept running, you were almost home. Your home. That was when you ran into someone, landing with your butt in the powdery snow.

"You are so troublesome, always running into me." You heard a familiar voice. "You should be apologizing to me by now." You saw his hand in front of you offering to help you back up, but you ignored it, jumping from the ground into his chest, letting your arms hug tightly around his neck. He didn't smell familiar anymore. Like burning and smoke. But there was still that something sweet. He hesitated before resting his own arms around your hips.

"Ino misses you Shika." You whispered, resting your head on his shoulder while pressing your eyes closed trying to stop the tears.

"You are upset because Ino misses me?" He questioned skeptically. You squeezed his neck tightly then let go, leaving his embrace. Rather than letting his hands awkwardly fall he puts his hands behind his head and started walking.

You fell in step beside him, back in the direction you were coming from. You couldn't speak because you didn't know what to say. You were in awe of him. You looked him over. He looked perfect. Exactly like he did when he left. So despite having no time for letters they had time to keep themselves bathed?

"AYA! What's wrong?!" Ahead of you was Kiba. You smiled widely at him then looked beside you, to see his reaction of seeing another one of his friends. There was no one there. Your whole face dropped. Staring at the empty space beside you.

"Where did he go?" You asked, choking slightly because you knew the answer. He was never there.

"Ayame, we heard you running by, crying. So I ran out and you were sitting in the snow, staring up at the sky. Then you turned around and walked back. Are you okay?" Kiba asked again, concern all over him, in his voice, on his face, and in the way his hands were stretched out to you.

You stared at him in disbelief. Tears brimmed your eyes again. Your head was spinning. You took a step forward, but your foot never hit the ground. You felt like you were falling. Then everything went black.

"Miss Umino, have you been eating right?"

You couldn't look at the doctor. He knew the answer. He had run tests, taken blood. He knew you weren't eating as much as you probably should have. You just found it hard to eat. Everytime you ate you thought of what Hana was doing, if she was eating. How she was feeling. Then you'd get distracted writing a letter or something. Kiba always commented that you weren't eating enough.

"Okay what about drinking? You need to eat and drink to live Miss Umino." You looked down at the floor. You weren't stupid. Of course you knew that. "We may have to give you an IV. Your body may not be taking in nutrients."

"There's nothing to take in." you whispered.

"Miss Umino, do you have someone you can talk to. I can set you up with a therapist if not. I think you may be depressed."

"That's silly. I just skipped breakfast this morning okay? I'll go home and eat and everything will be fine." You said faking a smile. You glanced over at Kiba. His head was down, his hands in his hair. He knew all along that you weren't fine with being alone. He blamed himself more than he should have. Like if he spent every second with you there would be no reason for you to be depressed. He was wrong. You needed confirmation. That's all.

The doctor nodded slightly then left, like he was going to get something.

"Aya, why didn't you tell me? I can help you." Kiba said, not looked at you but instead sitting in the chair running his hands through his hair. "I'm here for you. Can you please just let someone help."

"I'm fine Kiba, I don't need-"

"Stop lying to me Ayame." He practically shouted, staring you in the eyes now. His eyes were glossy, like he was going to cry. "You fainted because you have stopped caring for yourself. You let your blood pressure fall so much that you fainted!" He paused, looking back at the floor, breathing heavily. "You need to take care of yourself first and foremost." He whispered.

You let a single sob escape your lips, causing Kiba to look up at you with soft eyes. "I just… I just miss them so much… And I know…. I realise…. They may not-"

"They are coming back Ayame-"

"But what if they don't?!" You cried out letting yourself fully break down. "I need them. I need them both. I can't be on my own anymore. I… I… I…"

"Shhhhhhhh." Kiba whispered, moving to the chair next to yours and wrapping his arms around you. You sobbed openly into his chest. "You are never on your own Ayame. Never. You have friends that love you. Hinata, Shino, TenTen, Ino…. I can't even name them all" You could hear the smile in the way he talked. "And you have a big brother in me. I promise, we can all take care of you. We can all take care of eachother."

"I saw him today Kiba. I saw him in the street. What if he was saying goodbye?" You whispered. Afraid that Kiba would think you were crazy.

"He would never say goodbye to you. Just keep having faith. Keep smiling. And for the love of god, talk to me instead of having to go to the doctor before I can finally figure out what's wrong!" you laughed. Wiping the tears from your eyes with the back of your hand. Smiling while you did.

"You could have just told me what was going on." Ino said, the moment you set foot in the flower shop for work the next morning. "PS, it IS okay to call in sick when you spend most of the night at the clinic." She wouldn't look at you. Pretended instead to be really interested in pruning a bonsai tree that you were sure was more than pruned enough.

"I didn't want to worry anyone. I'm trying to be the strong one, remember?" you answered with a small smile.

"That doesn't mean you have to starve yourself!" She said almost frantically looking right at you now. You looked away, unable to face her.

"This isn't your fault-"

"But if I'd known I wouldn't have been so mad at you! We are all hurting Ayame! You really don't need to bottle it all up! It's okay to hurt!"

"I didn't know okay?!" You snapped back. "I didn't know that I was hurting. That I had given up. Do you think I can just go around crying to you or Kiba or Yoshino. I've known them for four months. You guys have all known them for years. I can't just go around crying to everyone about people that I barely know!"

"Yes you can! Of course you can!"

"No I can't! When I move again I can't just put myself through the same thing again and again. And I will move again. I always do. That's what I'm apparently good at. This is the only place that has really felt like home, but I need to learn to let go."

Ino jumped up from her seat behind the counter and charged over to you, tears flowing from her eyes. She pulled you into a strong hug and rested her head on your shoulder. "You belong here Ayame. You belong with us. With me. I won't let you go anywhere, none of us will. So just get attached, and get upset if you want." She continued to hold you tightly. You let your head fall to her shoulder and you both just held each other and cried.

_I'm losing faith now Hana. It's like you are never coming back. It's January now .The 29__th__ to be exact. This is letter 13. I guess that is unlucky huh? Maybe not for us though. Maybe it is lucky for us. I'm staying at the house again tonight. Kiba is sleeping on the floor right now, passed out. We were playing shogi… But he got too tired. Although it is 2 am now. I'm not doing so well anymore. My blood pressure is still low. I'm still not eating too well. I can't sleep anymore. Exams start soon, so at least I can use my nights studying. Yoshino cries all night now. Usually anyways. Everynight that I stay there we each have a glass of warm milk then go to bed. Sometimes I sneak into Shikamaru's room and sleep in there. Its more comfortable than the spare room. If I keep sending out these letters hopefully your motherly instinct for me will kick in and you'll be forced to come home. I know these letters must be going somewhere. Can't you just give me a sign some how?_

_Love, Aya. _


	12. Chapter 12

Yoshio didn't like you being too far from the house anymore. It was unsafe for you apparently. In truth it was because you knew she had found your anti-depressants and she was afraid to leave you alone. Your newest thinking spot was in the top of the Nara barn. The upper level had two nice windows in it that at night the moon would shine through. During the winter there were bales of hay kept up there that you would sit on, with a lantern behind you, to read or on occasion write. But now it was February. You wrote less and less to Hana, with your total to date being 15. You didn't even think she had time to read them all by now.

The other day you saw Iruka and Hana. You were sitting on the couch watching tv and when you glanced over you saw Iruka, sitting in his spot, watching the news. Leaned against him was Hana. It was like they were ghosts. Neither of them acknowledged you. They just sat there, smiling. Maybe they weren't ghosts though, maybe they were just a memory.

In the past months you had realised that you wanted nothing more than to hold Shikamaru in your arms again. That despite what you had said about him before you knew now that you needed him. You hated this feeling, of them being away. Both of them. You wanted so badly for everything to go back the way it was. But you knew it wouldn't. You knew it couldn't. They had been gone too long. You looked up at the sky, but on the way your eyes caught a glimpse of something.

Yoshino had turned down her lights hours ago, so why were you seeing a light by the house? You panicked and blew out the lantern, then while hiding yourself behind the window frame, peeking through the window ever so slightly. All you saw was what looked like shadows. You backed away from the window slowly and slid down the ladder. You grabbed an axe that Yoshino always kept in the barn and crept out into the snow. Obviously you weren't creeping well enough because you were greeted quickly with "Are you really going to try and stop me from breaking in to my own house?" The sounds of pure disappointment.

Before you knew it you were swept into the warmest hug you have every felt and smelled dogs. "Hana?" Tears pricked your eyes. You buried your head in to her neck hugging her tightly and clenching and unclenching your hands. "Are you really here?" You whispered, afraid to be dreaming again.

"Yeah Kiddo. Happy Valentine's day." She whispered. You laughed at her. You knew it was Valentine's day. You also knew that you had every intention of staying in bed all day. Taking another sick day. You took a lot lately. But you just couldn't go to school. Where everyone would be all couply and happy. Except your friends of course. "I took the Haimaru triplets back to the house and I was surprised to find that it looked like no one was living there. What's going on?"

"I'm not very strong…" you whispered. Laughing at yourself at the same time.

Hana pushed you away from her and held you and arm's length. "I got your letters. And trust me you are the strongest person I know. That you for waiting for us." She said, pulling you tightly against her again.

"Do you want to stay in the cold all night?" Shikaku's voice brought you back to reality. "Since when did Yoshino lock the door?"

"She doesn't feel safe anymore." You said, giving him the key you always had with you.

He sighed deeply. "I have missed my wife, but she is so troublesome." He said opening the door and turning on the light.

It was in the light that you could finally see Shikamaru's face. He had been staring at you the whole time, you were sure of it. Hana followed Shikaku into the house, mumbling something about needing a drink. Leaving you and Shikamaru frozen in place, staring at each other in the cold February air.

"I was starting to worry." You finally broke the silence. "What took you so long?" You stared into the space between his arms. You wanted to be in them but at the same time you couldn't just fling yourself at him. You wanted to, so badly you wanted to. But he looked weak. Tired. He had a scratch over his eyebrow that looked as though it was healing.

"Ayame, I…" He paused, thinking. You could hear Yoshino both crying and yelling at Shikaku for taking so long. Shikamaru flinched when he heard his named mentioned. But he knew that this was what his dad had expected. "I wish you didn't make me worry so much. It was so troublesome." You smiled at him. You missed him and his humour. He stepped towards you and pulled you into him. You wrapped your arms around him without a second thought and pressed your ear to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "If you are going to behave like that everytime I leave then I just won't leave again." He whispered, resting his head on yours.

"Good."

"Shikamaru Nara, are you not going to come and say hello to your mother?!" A rather annoyed Yoshino yelled out of her bedroom window. You could see Shikaku smirking apologetically behind her. Shikamaru looked up and them and let go of you. He started to move towards the door.

When in the doorway you stopped him. He glanced back at you. You stared at his lips for only a moment before leaning in and gently touching yours to his. "Welcome home." You whispered. Blushing, you beat him through the doorway to the kitchen where you could hear Hana while he went upstairs to his mother.

"Everything okay?" she asked looking up from a steaming cup of tea. She slid another across the table to you. She had just come back and she was already taking care of you.

You smiled "I'm much better now." You took a sip of the tea after blowing in the top. "You were gone far too long."

"Not long enough. We never got Mizuki." She hung her head, looking in to her tea for safety. "We were trailing him forever, but a month ago he suddenly disappeared. He was playing with us that whole time. He knew we were there!" She sighed deeply. "Anyways, after about a week of trying to find him again the other crew showed up. For the best we had to come back anyways." She glanced up at you smiling slightly.

"What do you mean you had to come back? I would have been fine. You didn't come back for me right?"

"Ayame, I have always had faith in you. I always will. We had to come back because around Christmas time I found out that…" She paused. "I'm with child."

You stared at her, almost in disbelief. You counted back, knowing that it had to be Iruka's. November, December, January, and now it was starting into February. She had to be four months along now right? You instantly looked to her stomach, feeling stupid for not recognizing it before. There was a slight swelling there. Not much but it was there. You started grinning like an idiot. "A… baby!" You jumped up and hugged Hana, giggling gleefully.

"I just wish I could share this with Iruka. He would have boon so happy… Well I think he would…"

"I know he would Hana. And I know he is watching over and is smiling right now! He wanted a family with you." You smiled, finally releasing her. She stared at you, letting a single tear drop from her eye before wiping it dry. "Besides that little guy or girl is going to have the best Aunt and Uncle ever!" You smiled.

"I'm going by the house first thing in the morning to tell Kiba and Mom. But right now, it is two thirty in the morning and I haven't slept in a nice bed in weeks. Can we go home?" You nodded, happy with the suggestion.

You ran up the stairs to the spare room, where you had a small bag with stuff for the night in it. You would always use going back to the house to get stuff for the next day as an excuse to go home. Passing the master bedroom you heard Yoshino with a tearful voice tell the men how glad she was that they were back. On your way back from the spare room you knocked nervously on the door. Shikaku opened it and let you through. Shikamaru sat on the end of the bed next to his mother, where she was likely smothering him with hugs.

"Yoshino, I just want to thank you for everything you have done for me and I'm really sorry but I need to go home now."

She smiled at you then invited you over for a hug. "Anytime sweetie." Letting go of you she turned her attention back to the guys. "And you! You both have a lot of thanking to do for this girl! She is an absolute blessing. She took on all your chores while you were gone without even complaining!" Shikaku opened his mouth to protest but Yoshino cut him off still. "She got up early, did all the chores, went to school, went to work, came home, did the night chores and went to bed. Without. A single. Complaint!" You took this opportunity to flash an apologetic smile at Shikamaru who was staring at you then glance at Shikaku who had his head down just taking the scolding. Then you backed out of the room hearing a faint "Come back anytime!" from Yoshino before running down the stairs.

At the bottomed you linked arms with Hana and headed back home.

Shika's POV

You knew that no matter how much tossing and turning you did you wouldn't be sleeping that night. You missed Ayame so much. And that kiss… You knew she missed you too. You knew that you were coming back because of Hana's news but you know that you were also a part of it.

Your dad was criticizing your decisions all the time. He said you weren't thinking things through and you knew he was right. You were usually so calm and you could usually diffuse any situation in seconds after pausing and thinking. You were super observant and took everything in. But in this case you were biased, and Mizuki knew it. Mizuki would taunt you guys, saying that He was Ayame's real family and that she would be coming to him in no time. That he knew her, and she was too curious not to.

Around the campfire at night your dad would ask your opinion on certain behaviours and you had nothing. There were no answers because your mind wasn't even on the case. All you thought about was how much you wanted him gone. Caught. Or dead. Everytime he would say something about Ayame you would instinctively look at Hana. She wasn't fazed. She had been in the business long enough. She was able to put aside her bias. You envied her of course. How could you not. She was stronger and smarter than you. You just couldn't figure out how to do it.

One night at the campfire you overheard them talking. "He will learn." Hana whispered to your father. He never answered, probably just made an unconvinced face at her. "Everything takes time Shikaku, you have to have faith in him."

"The only thing I have to do is take him home. He can't do this job. He is making everything too personal and he isn't thinking. He has become a danger to himself and to us." He said. You assumed he turned away from Hana then because neither of them talked any more.

You were happy to be home of course, but you couldn't shake the feeling that you failed. You were supposed to bring Mizuki back but somehow he outsmarted you. Tomorrow, or really later today, you would go and see all the friends you had been missing and catch up with everyone. You glanced over at your phone. It died pretty early in and despite being plugged in for about an hour now it still hadn't turned on. You sighed. It looked like you would just be going to Ino's house and surprising her. You hated the idea of that. She would jump on you and hug you and probably act like she thought you were dead. Like Ayame had. But you didn't mind the hug from Ayame. And you definitely didn't mind the kiss.

Aya's POV

You woke up smiling feeling like you had slept for days. But in reality you knew it was only about 8 in the morning. You knew why you were happy. Because for the first time in a long time everyone in the village would be happy again. Well, at least everyone you talked to or really cared about. You rolled out of your bed and sprung to your feel, opening your curtains to find a bright, sunny, and snow covered day.

You padded over to Hana's room, finding her still groggy with sleep, and crawled into her bed with her, snuggling into to her stomach. "I missed you so much." You said smiling, happy to finally have family again.

She laughed. "Are you going to start waking me up like this every morning? I can get used to it if I must." She laughed, acting like you were pulling her leg in that decision. You laughed also. "Are you going to come with me to see my mum? It's strange but I do miss her, even if she isn't the most loving out there."

You laughed and said yes. Then you were shooed from the room to go get dressed. It was Saturday and it was beautiful out so you decided on simple jeans and a dark green pull over hoodie. You heard the shower starting so you assumed she was going for a much needed one. You sat down on your bed and pulled out your phone after receiving a text.

'_you awake?'_ it was from Shikamaru. You were so happy to see that name across your phone again.

'_why are you?'_ you asked, laughing at the fact that he was even functioning at this time of day. Especially since you knew he went to bed late.

'_couldn't sleep. Thinking too much.'_ You were still reading that text when you received the next. _'want to meet up today?'_ your heart begin to race. You suddenly remembered what you had done the previous night. You had kissed him, something you wanted to do for so long. You thought about it. You kissed him because you missed him right? You cared about him? But what would your friends say if something came of it? They would remind you that you swore off him. He had hurt you after all. But then he saved you. That was when it all changed right? It was taking you too long to text back, he had probably given up on you already.

"Aya, are you ready?" Hana's voice called. You didn't even hear her getting out of the shower, meanwhile she had already dressed.

'_I'm going to the Inuzuka's today with Hana. I can meet up with you later? Besides, you need to go see your other friends, like Ino and Choji.'_

'_text me when you want to meet up then.' _He answered you quickly. You probably sounded like a jerk, but he would forget that when he is smothered by Ino.

'_Sure! And Happy Valentine's day Shika! :P'_ You knew that he was sighing somewhere to that response or mumbling about how troublesome it was.

You ran downstairs and grabbed your hat, mitts, and scarf from the closet. Then you slipped into your winter coat and followed Hana out into the snow.

The only person you passed that you knew was Shino. He was on his way out on a tripo for the night with his dad. You had known he was going away this weekend for a while and you remember dreading the Sunday that he was gone since you felt you really needed him on Sundays. He said he was happy that they were back because he hated seeing you sad. He left almost immediately after that, which was fine because the Inuzuka's was a block away and Hana was anxious to see them and to tell her family the great news.

"Mom? Little Brother?" Hana questioned, walking in the door. Akamaru came bounding down the stairs, you could have sworn in one jump, and skidded to a halt n front of Hana instantly smelling her stomach. You laughed at him, wondering how he knew. Did he have an instinct.

"Akamaru… I said wait an hour buddy, you can hold it…." Kiba said groggily walking down the stairs while rubbing his eyes. When he dropped his hands his eyes widened. "Mom?!" He shouted back up the stairs then he ran down the stairs too and hugged his sister, picking her up in the process. Despite being the little brother he was still significantly bigger than her. "You've gained weight. Been living the life of luxury these days? And here I thought you would be eating tree bark or something."

Hana laughed nervously. "Well actually-"

"It's about time you came home. Even I was starting to worry. But I should know better than that." Tsume said, coming down the stairs in flannel pyjamas and hugging Hana. "Have you been drinking this whole time? You need to care for your body, you are getting fat."

"Well no mom, Kiba. I- uh…. I'm actually pregnant." Hana said, blushing with her hand on the back of her head.

Kiba's face lit up instantly. He kneeled to the floor and put his ear to Hana's stomach. "I get to be an uncle! I will be the best uncle ever! By Christmas we will have a little baby to spoil! I can't wait! Congratulations! Sorry I called you fat but…. I just can't wait!" Hana shooed him away from her belly soon enough. She was barely showing, she didn't want him fawning all over her. You knew this would be his reaction though because you remembered talking to him at the park one day where there were kids playing and he said that one day he wanted children to play with at the park.

"You are too stubborn and hot headed-" Tsume started staring her daughter down. But then a smile spread across her face. "Just like me. That's why I know you will make a wonderful mother." She said. "Another Inuzuka, I'm pleased."

"Actually, I think it will be an Umino. He or She may not have a father but I at least want them to know of Iruka right." Hana said. The topic would always make her sad you were sure but this was theirs. This belonged to them. It was them.

"Plus I'll just stand in as temporary father so since I'm an Umino it would be Umino anyways." You said smiling.

"When did you guys get in? How are the others?" Kiba asked once everyone had sat down in the kitchen. You offered to make some eggs and toast for breakfast while Tsume showered so Hana and Kiba stayed in the kitchen with you.

"Probably around 2 am right Aya?" You nodded. "Everyone is fine though.

"You were still up that late Aya?! I thought we had talked about this! You need sleep! You need food! You were supposed to call me if you weren't getting either sol I could force you!"Kiba practically shouted.

You smiled at him, guilty. "Yeah, but I'm fine now! Everyone is back and everyone is healthy!" You laughed. Sure you maybe needed to catch up on some sleep but that could wait.

"Yeah healthy enough to make out on the front steps of the Nara house." Hana smirked. You had no idea that she had seen that kiss.

"A peck! I was happy he was back and I gave him a slight peck. I didn't make out with him! AND you weren't supposed to see that." You laughed, flipping an egg in the air, you used to practice that. Too many splattered eggs on the stove, floor, ceiling, and wall to count.

"So why aren't you with him now?" Kiba asked, stuffing the scalding egg you had just given him into his mouth.

His ears must have been burning because that moment you felt your pocket vibrate. You stick your tongue out at Kiba then read the message. _'Ino just informed me that there is some party thing going on tonight at Hinata's for Valentine's day. She wanted to invite you but was afraid because of how you had been lately. Wants to know if you will come?'_

'_why couldn't she text me then?'_ You turned back to Hana and Kiba, glaring slightly at Kiba. "Why didn't YOU tell me then?"

"Ah… Well… It was Hinata that suggested you not know. She was afraid it would upset you, you know? Having fun and everything. You've been so good at keeping strong and keeping everyone else strong, in one on one situations. We didn't want you to get upset then go home alone or something. Or bottle everything up and get even more upset!"

"What are we talking about here guys?" Hana asked, genuinely confused.

"So basically no one wanted me there? Well now I want to go even less. I understand why you are all trying to protect me but I'm a big girl. And I thought we were friends. Shouldn't friends cheer sad friends up, not depress them more?" You asked, hurt. Your eyebrows were furrowed in wonder, sad that your friends would behave like this.

"Hinata is having a Valentine's day girly party with scary movies and we didn't invite Aya." Kiba said when he realised that you had turned away from him, and taken away his second plate, eating it yourself instead.

"Well she has a point guys, that isn't very nice of you." Hana agreed with you.

You shuddered. "It's fine Hana. They are watching scary movies any ways. Count me out of that." Another vibrate. _'I think she wants me to ask you.'_

'_makes sense. Do you want to ask me? Doesn't matter anyways. I was just informed that scary movies are involved so I'm out. Besides they clearly don't even want me there.'_

"Don't worry Aya, Shika will protect you!" Kiba joked making a kissy face. You felt your phone vibrate multiple times. Pulling it out of your pocket you discovered multiple texts from Ino, Hinata, and TenTen, all telling you that they of course wanted you there. There was also a text waiting from Shikamaru.

'_I want you there.'_ You blushed brightly.

"So I guess you are going?" Hana asked, laughing slightly.

"I can make an appearance." You smiled back while Kiba rolled his eyes. Then you gave him the remaining eggs while he continued to make faces at you.

Tonight you would show your friends that you really were okay now.


	13. Chapter 13

"Ayame, I really am so sorry! I really did want to include you! Honestly. We just felt so bad with everything going on that we felt you wouldn't even want to spend time with us!" Ino stated the moment you walked in the door of Hinata's mansion. You were still surprised every time you walked in, seeing as how she never seemed rich when she was at school.

"Well, I'm actually fine now I think so-"

"I bet you are fine, Kiba told me about the kiss!" Ino squealed. Hinata and TenTen stared at you in confusion.

"How come I didn't get excitement when I got a kiss?" TenTen pouted, jokingly. You had forgotten that in December TenTen and Neji had officially started dating.

"Because you and Neji weren't on some ridiculous love hate roller coaster for months!" Ino sighed, imagining, what you thought was probably, an exaggerated love story.

"Ino you need to stop watching the chick flicks." You said, laughing. You realised when Ino stared at you with wide eyes and silent Hinata immediately hugged you that it was the first real laugh you had with them in a long time. "Sorry" You said, scratching the back of your head.

"We are glad to have you back Aya." Hinata whispered, releasing you. After one big group hug with your three best girlies you walked in to the Hyuuga wreck room with them, seeing everyone there already.

"Jeez, late much Aya?" Kiba asked, patting the seat on the ground next to him. You saw Shika across the room on the couch beside Neji. That's where you wanted to sit, but you decided instead to sit with Kiba since he offered.

"I didn't realise everyone would be here already!" You laughed.

"No, NOW everyone is here." You didn't look behind you immediately but the shocked face on Shikamaru told you everything. You knew who that female voice belonged to.

"Oh hey, Shika! I thought you were away on business buddy?" You heard Kankuro ask, walking over the circle.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to ruin your lives-"

"Then why ARE you here Temari?"

"Calm down Shikamaru. You know that we were all friends before whatever happened between you guys. WE just wanted to get together again." Ino answered. You know it was her idea. You knew that her and Temari were close at one point.

"So you are Ayame right? Damn Kankuro, for once you were right, she is smoking." Temari said, holding out her hand to you. That's right, you weren't ever properly introduced. You had just seen her once before, wrapped up in Shikamaru. The thought disgusted you but your mind wouldn't stop replaying it. You took her hand anyways and tried to smile at her. I her defence, she didn't know about you the last time. You knew that. How could she have? She just wanted to fix her relationship with Shikamaru. You really couldn't blame her because that's what you were trying to do as well.

"Okay!" Ino said, cutting the tension with a loud clap. Temari took a seat between Ino and Hinata. Hinata was next to you so at least you could keep an eye on her. Keep your enemies closer right? Okay maybe you were being unfair. Maybe she wasn't an enemy. Shikamaru was looking away now with his eyes closed pretending not to care. "So, Hinata and I decided that we missed being little so we want to play Truth or Dare AND 7 minutes in heaven at the same time!" You heard a few sighs at the second one. It wasn't a fun game even when you were kids. And you always wondered how many people had their first kiss stolen in a closet by someone who had no idea what they were doing?

You helped Hinata bring in some food and drinks then took your places back in the circle. By then Ino had written down all the girls names, ready to get the guys to pick. According to Naruto that was the only way that was fair because the girls would all fight over Sasuke. Ino and Sakura huffed at the suggestion then pushed the basket towards Sasuke first. Both hoping for their romantic moment.

Sasuke pulled TenTen. Both him and her laughed a little at it while the faces of Sakura and Ino both fell. Then Ino started Truth or Dare, picking her first target at Sakura. After being forced to do the chicken dance until Sasuke was out of the closet Sakura moved on to pick Naruto. Naruto picked dare, probably hoping Sakura would dare him to kiss her or something ridiculous like that she instead dared him to Kiss Hinata, something everyone knew was coming.

Everyone knew that Naruto could like Hinata and everyone knew they both just needed a little push to get there. Hinata was beat red with her eyes closed when Naruto planted a soft kiss on her lips. Everyone screamed 'awwwww'.

Sasuke and TenTen came out of the closet and Sakura stopped her dance. She looked tired by now anyways. TenTen, being the girl chosen, was allowed to pick what guy pulled next and you saw her point the basket at Shikamaru. "Since you have been away so long, I'll make you suffer early." You pretended to ignore it. Praying that it was anyone but Temari. Any of the girls in the room could be better. He sighed then slowly fished his hand around in the bowl pulling out a slip of paper.

"Ayame." He said, throwing the paper behind him. You started blushing. It didn't have to be you either. It was so awkward. Everyone would be right there. What if someone peeked. No you guys wouldn't do anything, not in a crammed little closet. Ino forced you to stand, pretty much lifting you off the ground. You could feel the heat on your cheeks now. You glanced back at Hinata, seeing her still red from her kiss, but she was nodding you on. Hinata had to kiss Naruto in front of everyone, at least you had a door separating you. While glancing back you saw a glimpse of Temari. She looked disappointed. Like maybe she wanted to get pulled.

Ino shut the door before you even realised you were in there. You instinctively pulled out your phone, for the light. "You know that ruins the game right?" Shikamaru said, with one eyebrow raised.

"You know it's a stupid game, right?" You said back, raising your eyebrow as well.

"All we need is spin the bottle and it will be like we are in the seventh grade." He was sitting on the ground, and he had his hands behind his head, both of them. His eyes were closed. You wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep since you knew he hadn't last night.

"What's on your mind?" You asked, sitting across from him.

"A lot." Her answered sighing. "Sleep. Mizuki. Sleep. You." He opened one eye to look at you. You were blushing.

"What? Not Temari?" You joked slightly. But hoping he would give you some rude comment about her.

"Only why she is here. What she wants. But really her being here just reminds me how much I screwed up." His eyes were closed again. Even if they were open he wouldn't have been looking at you.

He was hurt. You knew it. You didn't know what to say because you were afraid to hurt him more. Besides he probably already thought out every reaction you would have to his statement so its not like you could surprise. So instead you did what you wanted to do... You leaned over him, placing your hands on the floor on either side of him, and planted your lips on his. You pulled away after he didn't respond. But you didn't want it to be over yet so you did it again. This time he moved too, creating a perfect lock with your lips.

You felt him move, taking his hands from the back of his head, one moving to the back of your head, the other to your arm. Then he pulled away and stared in to your face squinting slightly like he was trying to read you. You were so close that you could feel his breath and the sweet smell made you shiver slightly. "What are you doing?" He asked, when he could not figure it out.

"I…" You paused in thought. "I realised when you were gone, how much I missed you… how much I needed you. I-"

"I feel the same way. I just never thought you would. But how can you trust me?"

"And you are supposed to be the smart one." You smiled, leaning in and kissing him again. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his lap.

"Be mine?" He asked when you pulled away and just sat in his lap with your head on his shoulder.

"Maybe. If you ask me in a less cheesy place, in a less cheesy way, and not of Valentines day." you laughed teasing him. He rolled his eyes at you and kissed you one last time before the door burst wide open and there was a flash in your face. There stood Ino and Sakura.

"We KNEW you'd do something!" Sakura shouted! Ino smiled like an idiot at both of you.

"Okay you get to pick who picks next Ayame!" TenTen said, pushing the basket to you now. You chose Neji, who awkwardly picked Hinata. Hinata pouted, having wanted Naruto to pick her. Then they both went into the closet. Hinata texted you from within.

'_so, are you two dating then.'_

'_no. I didn't want to start dating in a closet.' _ You laughed at yourself.

"Ayame, Truth or Dare?" Temari asked. You wondered why you. You glanced over at Shikamaru, hoping he would tell you what to pick but he wasn't there. He was probably in the washroom or something. Figuring you would be told to do something really weird you picked truth.

"How old were you again when you lost your virginity?" Everyone stared at you. You wete sure that most of the guys didn't even know. The girls did though. You also knew that there was only one girl who had also lost hers. TenTen, but it was very recent.

"I thought truth was yes or no answers?" You asked. You wondered how she would even know. Did Ino tell her? You glanced over at Ino to see her staring back at you, shocked.

"Not the way we play and I'm not stupid. You're not as innocent as your pretty little face may suggest. Besides that I personally know Ayden. He actually lives not too far from here."

You could have sworn that you had forgotten how to breathe. Forgotten how to speak. Forgot it all. You stared at her as if she was from another planet. You couldn't understand how she knew him. He was miles away from here. Well You guess not now since She just said he was nearby.

"Yeah I met him at a party and he mentioned how he was looking for someone then he mentioned your name and I said I knew you and yeah a conversation came from there…" She looked confused at your reaction.

"What did he say about me?" You asked worried that he knew exactly where you were. There were tears stinging at your eyes but thank the darkened room no one could tell as far as you could tell.

Temari seemed to get slightly worried now. Maybe she actually wasn't out to ruin your life. "Uhm… well he asked where you lived but I didn't actually know… but I told him the city. Does it matter? I mean you have a boyfriend don't you… Or do you still like your ex?" Temari questioned getting the grin on her face like she had just uncovered your deepest darkest secret.

"Why would I still like him I mean he was… He wasn't…" you paused in thought. Then tears started to rll down your cheeks. "He knows where to find me…" you whispered.

"Temari! How could you?!" Ino half shouted at her while flying to your side and holding you.

"What do you mean how could I? How could she?!"

"What could you possibly mean by that?!"

"How could you just come into our happy lives and just be loved by all. How could you ruin my perfect little life with yours?!"

"You actually think my life is perfect?! And how do I have anything to do with you and Shikamaru breaking up? I wasn't even around when YOU were cheating on HIM!" You stood in anger and stood over Temari.

"Of course our life is perfect! I mean you always get what you want don't you? Did you ever for one second think that by getting what you want that you are tearing the one thing that may make someone truly happy away from them?" She was starting to cry but you weren't sure if the tears were real or for the act.

"Shikamaru never made you perfectly happy! If he did you wouldn't have cheated!" You stared at her ignoring the tears, for the moment.

"What are you dumb? I think we already got that point figured out!" Temari stood up against you, which unfortunately you had to look up to her since she was taller than you.

"You don't even understand how my life is far from perfect!? I've been moving all my life! I sent people that I love on a mission after someone because someone was after me-"

"I knew it! I knew it wasn't just a normal mission! You never really cared for any of them did you?! If you really loved them you would have left with him before he endangered them all. They could have died and you don't even care."

"I don't care?!" You shouted at her right before you're fist connected with her jaw. You moved to throw another punch but instead she caught you're arm and flung you around into the wall.

You could hear your friends yelling in protest to the fight. You stood and started at her again with tears still blurring your vision. Then before you reached her there was arms constricting you back and you saw Kankuro holding his sister the same way you felt yourself being held by Kiba. Someone else was near you but you weren't sure whom.

"You don't understand. You could never understand how I feel! I've been to too many funerals in my life. I've moved way too many times. The fact that I found friends here in Konoha has nothing to do with trying to ruin anyone's life. And what happened between you and Shikamaru has nothing to do with me. It's none of my business."

"That may be true but what you will do to him is. You cause problems Ayame. Everywhere you go something with always happen. Everyone you've ever gotten close to. All of them have died. Face it, you're not meant to have family or friends."

"That's enough Temari." Hinata ended it there. That last remark hit way below the belt.

"See everyone here was once my friend now they are all against me." Temari was accusing you.

"It wasn't Aya that ended our friendship with you. It was you yourself. Shikamaru has always been our friend. My best friend and you hurt him. Finally he's happy again and you want to ruin it? What kind of friend are you?" Ino said standing in Temari's face.

"Okay since you have my ex boyfriend maybe I'll go find yours." Temari said trying to ignore the truth that she had ended a lot of friendships just in the past few minutes. She tried to make you jealous instead.

"Temari you can go screw any dirty guy you damn well please." You said calmly finally convincing Kiba that he could release you. Temari gave a humph and left like that, Kankuro mouthing a sorry to you and your friends and following, since he was Temari's ride.

"Guys… I-I… Ayame… I'm really really sorry about this… I-I-I D-Didn't Know-" Ino moved swiftly from the room avoiding anyone from seeing her cry. You started to follow putting up your hand to stop Sakura from worrying about it.

Ino somehow managed to get you both all the way through the house into a back laundry room where she sat on the cold cement floor leaned against a pipe crying. You moved next to her and slid to the floor with your arm wrapped around her. She stared out at the opposite wall. "I always knew that Temari wasn't a very good person. I mean when she first came around Shikamaru and I were almost dating and I liked him a lot. Then I starting hanging out with her more then she went behind my back and started hanging out with Shikamaru and well we know where it went from there."

"I'm sorry…" You said feeling as if you ruined it completely by snatching him up when he was free.

"No no by the time well she did what she did we were just best friends again. I think it was just a stage anyways." Ino said shrugging. "But you wouldn't believe the things she did." Ino said all sadness gone from her voice now just a hint of laughter. "Well, maybe you would." She wiped a tear from your eye. You forgot that you were crying. It reminded you again of Ayden.

"We should talk later. Think of how Hina and Neji must feel right now with their valentines sleepover going like it is."

Ino nodded but paused when you were helping you up. "What did Ayden do to you?"

"It doesn't matter. Just stay away from him. He isn't good for people.

Ino nodded again, understanding that you weren't ready to give her any more of the story, and followed you out towards the general direction of the others. Passing by the kitchen you did hear a side conversation.

"Do you think that maybe if we do get close to her that we will get killed too?" Sakura's voice sounded slightly worried.

"Maybe… I mean all the people that I was close to were killed and I do believe that Mizuki is like Itachi." Sasuke answered not showing much emotion in his voice, as usual.

"Oh come on guys lets not worry about it. She makes Shikamaru so happy." Choji butted in.

"Yeah but she could end up being his death." Sasuke stated.

"Even Shikamaru seemed afraid. I mean you saw his face when he came back to see Ayame punching Temari." Sakura stated.

"It's still nothing to worry about," Choji stated to end the conversation.

'_But what if they were right?'_ you thought. Entering the living room again, Ino and yourself with your arms linked together.


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru chuckeld. After the events with Temari, Hinata and Neji decided that it was time to wind down and watch some of the scary movies that TenTen gladly supplied. Everyone changed in to some pyjamas or sleeping gear of some sort then headed to the personal theatre. It had a large screen at the front with a projector shining on it, much like the ones the classrooms had in school. Hooked up to the projector was TenTen's laptop, where she had all of her downloaded movies. Then there was 4 rows of couches on risers with two couches side by side in each row, equalling to 8 couches.

You and Shikamaru had one in the very back left. TenTen and Neji were on the one in front of you. Sakura and Ino were on the next one. Sasuke was originally with them but moved to sit with Lee when both seemed to be scared of everything and jumped on him. Next to you was a very shy Hinata and Naruto. Naruto, was the same as always but you had noticed Hinata slowly inch closer and closer until eventually she was leaned against Naruto as they were now. In front of them were Kiba, Akamaru and Choji. Then Lee and Sasuke. There was no one on the two front row couches but you were sure as people started to doze off they would move to those one. You really couldn't see Choji and Kiba sleeping together after all.

"I hate scary movies."

"I didn't mean that." You didn't answer right away so he shrugged. "We have quite the troublesome pair of exs." He then laughed as you jumped at another killer being behind the victim cliché. He wrapped his arms all the way around you pulling you tightly against him. You could feel his steady breathing.

"I just… I thought I got away from him." You frowned. Your face could probably show your worry. Its not like you would call the things that happened after the first time Rape… But you certainly weren't consenting to it either. You were more afraid of his threat. That no one had ever dumped him before. You really didn't dump him. Well you did but things still went on because you truly couldn't get away. When your great aunt got sick you knew all along that there was a chance you would be sent elsewhere. So when she did die you were kind of happy. You hoped she knew that she had saved you. She probably didn't though. You weren't really close anyways.

"I'll keep you safe." Shikamaru answered, whispering it in to your ear. You felt another blush creeping on. To distract yourself you pulled out your phone, glancing at the time. 12am. "So, I've been meaning to ask you, will you be my girlfriend, finally?" Shikamaru whispered, having seen the time as well.

You turned in his arms and slowly kissed him, deeply. "That's a yes." You whispered before continuing to kiss him. He held you close to him but kept his relaxed posture. It probably didn't look like much, but you felt safe there.

He pulled away first and leaned his forehead on yours. "I'll always protect you." You felt your eyes get glossy. I meant so much to you, like he was your own personal super hero. He kissed your forehead in the spot where his was resting then turned back to the movie. You kept looking at him, not really interested in the movie. The sounds and music alone were enough to scare you. Not to mention that you already heard Sakura and Hinata yelp in fear a couple of times. Shikamaru glanced at you and sighed. "Please don't stare at me. It is borderline creepy."

You laughed and laid down, leaning on his chest, and shut your eyes. Your ear rested over his heart which you could hear beating faster than usual. You smiled. At least you had a similar effect on him as he was to you. With your eyes closed you realised how tired you were and also how comfortable Shikamaru was behind you. You were sure to fall asleep and you honestly had no idea how he had not already. Hana had told you that no one really slept while they were gone. You were behind on one night's sleep and it was killing you.

As you felt yourself drifting off you thought about school on Monday and having everyone back together. And going to the grave with Hana rather than being alone all the time. And of welcoming a new baby to the family.

_You were sweating. Running through the forest as fast as you could yet still somehow it wasn't fast enough. You felt every step like a pounding drum. You focused on that. Focussed on the sound of your feet, crushing the leaves. The feeling of the branches and thorny vines that batted at your sides, arms, legs and face. The immense heat in your body. Your desire to be more fit. You heard a bizzare screaming behind you, like the deranged person at an asylum. You could feel their presence as they got closer and closer. You felt your legs faltering. You felt your body slipping. You felt the pain in your ankle as if was caught up in the vine. You turned over quickly feeling one of them over you. You looked into his face, Ayden's taking in his golden coloured eyes and his shaggy Indigo hair framing his face. And behind was a familiar flash of white hair._

You gasped as you woke up, being shaken by someone. You were looking into Shikamaru's dark brown eyes. Your eyes were wide and were answered by him raising his eyebrows at you. "I _was_ sleeping. Nightmare?" He asked, emphasizing the was. You nodded. "You okay now?"

"I think so." You smiled, snuggling more in to him.

He laughed. "No more scary movies for you."

"If I had my way there wouldn't have been scary movies in the first place!" You got a little louder prompting Shikamaru to put a single finger to his lips. Then he pointed at another couch.

You rolled over to find Sakura Ino and Kiba sleeping on a couch together in that order. Sakura was near the edge but Ino and Kiba were really close to eachother with their hands only inches apart.

"Since when?" Shikamaru whispered.

"First I've seen of this." That moment you both saw Ino stir. She looked at Kiba and smiled slightly then shifted over, closer to Sakura. Apparently something she didn't want anyone to know about.

You both laughed slightly then you laid on your back and looked up and Shikamaru. He was on his side with one arm propped up holding his head up. He was wearing the sweatpants and Tight fitting black shirt he had fallen asleep in still. His shirt was a little disheveled, exposing part of his stomach, specifically the V which you admittedly looked at longer than you needed to. His hair was really messy, many strands had fallen from their confinement in the pony, something you had never seen before. You were surprised he even kept his hair up to sleep. But maybe he just didn't want anyone else to see it down.

You reached up and touched the still healing cut on his eyebrow. Something that in the previous night Naruto had joked probably came from Shikamaru falling asleep standing up and bashing his face on something. Everyone laughed, making it lighthearted. You knew more. You knew it was something Mizuki must have done. It looked like it had probably been healing a while. And like it had some shoddy stitches. Something you knew was the work of Hana. She was medically trained after all, despite the fact that she changed to veterinary then finally ended up at the police force. The cut was probably only two inches long but it was at least half an inch thick, after the stitches.

He let you. He just watched you. His eyes on your face. It almost reminded you of when you were in the hospital and he was the one touching your wound. This looked so much worse than yours had felt. Not because it actually was worse but because his was entirely your fault. And his would leave a noticeable scar. Yours could only be seen if you decided to shave your head; that would never happen though.

"Its nothing." He whispered. His voice was deeper than normal, probably because he was tired. He kept staring at you, trying to read you.

"When did it happen?" You asked, ignoring him.

His other hand went to the back of his neck scratching it. He looked up at the ceiling, in thought. "Around Christmas I think. Right after actually." He looked back at you, narrowing his eyes. "It wasn't your fault."

"Well you were out there because of m-"

"Shhh." His finger was on your lips. "I'm not about you argue with you about this, it's too much work. Just know that I never have and never will blame you." You nodded slowly. He let his arm fall back to his side and rolled on to his back, tired of lifting his upper half. People were starting to stir around you. You began searching the couch for your phone. Shikamaru sighed and pulled it from the back of the couch. At least he was paying attention and put it somewhere so you wouldn't lose it.

Turning it on you found two things. One, that it was really really bright. And 2 that it was already 9:30 in the morning and you had a missed call from Hana. You sat upright.

"Is it really time to get up?" Shikamaru sighed, looking at you through one eye. He clearly wanted to stay asleep.

"You can stay."

He sat up anyways, despite your hand on his shoulder. "No I've been waiting months to be the one who spends your Sundays with you. I'm not giving it up now." You smiled at him before standing up and feeling your way down the steps to the door. You opened the door a crack and the light flooded in, drawing your attention to Hinata and Naruto, snuggled up really close to sleep. Both of you snuck out the crack in the door and you ran up the stairs to Hinata's room. You knew your stuff was all in there anyways.

When you made it back down the stairs in your jeans and yet another green hoodie you found Shikamaru had changed into jeans as well and now had a green and black hoodie on. His hair had been brushed back in to place. You were kind of upset to have missed seeing it down. He noticed your pout, as he noticed everything. "Maybe you'll see it one day." He winked at you.

"And where is my lazy daughter?" Mrs. Yamanaka asked the second you walked in to the flower shop. You had text Hana to meet you at the grave and that you just needed to make one stop first. "Oh, nice to see you back Shikamaru." He smiled at her and gave a little wave. "Your father was here last night. I trust he made it home okay?" Shikamaru shrugged.

"I need three today please." You smiled at her. She gave you a questioning look to which you responded. "For the baby." You smiled widely. She then stared at you in disbelief then at Shikamaru and then at your stomach.

"You are far too young-"

"Not her. Hana. That's why we came back. Did my father not tell you that last night?" Shikamaru cut her off, quite coolly. Meanwhile you had a bright red blush all across your face. It didn't faze him though.

"Oh. Well you must congratulate her for me." She handed you the flowers. In the middle of winter you knew there was really no point in putting flowers that would just freeze on the grave, but you felt Iruka still deserved it. You turned away, following Shikamaru out in to the cold, hugging all three flowers against you.

Once at the grave you found Hana was already there. She had tears in her eyes and the three dogs sitting around her. But she still stood. You remembered finding here once before, laying with her head against the stone. It was after a fight with her mom and you knew she wanted him there again, to help her through it.

Shikamaru stayed a step behind while you laid the flowers down. One at a time. Hana watched you, placing a hand over her stomach when you placed the last one. Then you backed up and stood next to her. After a moments silence she spoke.

"I have an appointment on Thursday. Did you want to come with?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" You said smiling.

"How did you manage to come on your own every single Sunday?"

"I was never alone. I never am. I knew you would be here if you could. And when I was leaving I always had someone meet me."

She smiled at you, tears still in her eyes. "I have something for you. It came to me this morning at home, someone dropped it off."

"What is it?" You asked, thoughts of Ayden suddenly flashed through your mind. No, if it was something from him then Hana wouldn't have brought it in the house. She just smiled at you and started walking towards home.

You saw Shikamaru pull out his phone a few times on the walk but wouldn't show you the texts. He would just smile then put his phone away. You were trying to grab his phone out of his hand when you felt your foot slide. He was quick to react and caught your arm, grabbing you around your waist with the other pulling you fully to your feet. "You really need to watch your step." He smirked.

"You know last time that happened I was imagining it. Then I fainted."

"Please don't faint. I don't want to be in the hospital right now." Hana said laughing nervously. You smiled at her then wriggled out of Shikamaru's arms, sticking your tongue out at him.

"You never told me you fainted."

"It was in my letters… I thought you knew."

"Um, actually I left those ones out. It just made me worry more, I didn't want to share the worry." Hana said.

Shikamaru stared intently at you. "What exactly happened?"

"Oh… Uh… Well I was running from Ino because she said…" You stopped. You didn't want him to get mad. "Some things…" He narrowed his eyes at you and you heard Hana sigh quietly. "Anyways, I must have run in to something. I don't really know. But I THOUGHT I ran in to you. You said something about being stupid and running in to you so often." He raised an eyebrow at you. "Anywyas, Kiba found me, made me snap out of it. Then I fainted. And woke up at the doctors." You smiled. "But I'm fine now!"

"Why did you faint?" He asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, we are here! Ready for your surprise?" Hana asked, saving you from telling Shikamaru. You didn't mind telling him. But not out in the street in front of Hana. It seemed like Hana didn't want him to know either. Shikamaru watched you anyways as she opened the door.

You heard it immediately, the faint whimpering. The Haimaru siblings all went straight to the kitchen and the whimpering stopped. "What is this?" You asked Hana skeptically.

"I called her Amaya. I kind of got lazy. Anyways, When I woke up this morning there was a call on the machine. She was found out in the forest and they wanted to know if I wanted to take her in, at least foster her for a while. But I decided the moment I saw her that we would keep her."

About halfway through her story you had bounded into the kitchen. You saw a small White puppy with a black tail and black paws in a large dog kennel in the middle of the floor. She wagged her tail and looked up at you and Hana. As soon as Hana opened the front of the kennel the small puppy jumped up on her. She handed the pup to you.

"Hi Amaya!" She yelped happily at you. You were smiling ear to ear. She licked your face.

"I just wish she could have been around when we weren't, then maybe…"

"Hana!" You cried out. "You can't be upset! That was me! All me! I'm just… I'm weak!" Shikamaru had left the room, you didn't even notice. "thank you Hana. I love the triplets and I'm excited to have a dog too!" You said sincerely.

"Well, you are kind of like my little sister. And I know Kiba feels the same way. There a never been a Inuzuka who didn't have a dog so I thought you needed one. I've been thinking that for a while actually, if I'm being honest. Theres no better friend than a furry one!" Hana said.

"You sound like a commercial." You said bluntly.

"Either way, I'm not going anywhere for a long while. And I have a good feeling he won't either." Hana said winking at you. You smiled then left the kitchen with Amaya still in your arms.

"Come on Shika, I'm going to take her up to my room, get her used to my smell!" You found him sitting at the bottom of the stares leaned on the others. His hands behind his head and his eyes closed. Once you passed him he got up and followed you.

When you got to your room you asked Shikamaru closed the door. The you turned to look at him, letting Amaya down to sniff everything. He looked sad. "What's the matter?"

"What happened to you while we were gone?"

You sighed deeply. Now was the time. "Since December I have been seeing a psychiatrist." Shikamaru looked shocked. You grabbed his hand. "Not because of you! I was upset about you guys being gone. And I hadn't heard from you, none of us had. Anyways it made me start thinking about all the times I've moved and how I'd never have real family and friends. And I…" You paused. "I guess I didn't even notice I wasn't really eating."

"What about my mom? I thought she was taking care of you."

"She was pretty upset too I guess." You smiled and laughed slightly. "Maybe that's why you and Temari never worked out. You Nara men need women who act strong but are actually kind of weak."

"First of all, I'm nothing like my father." He pulled you into a hug. "Second." He kissed the top of your head. "I don't think you are weak." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm probably weaker than you. I'm part of the reason we came back-"

You kissed him. In that moment there was nothing more that you craved than his kiss. You weren't sure why, you just needed it. You felt water in your eyes before you did, maybe it was to stop the tears. Or maybe it was because no one else had complimented you like that. He had one hand in your hair and the other in the middle of your back. You pulled him over to your bed to sit down as he was taller than you and stretching made you tired. Amaya Licked your arm as you sat down, making you laugh and let go.

Shikamaru ruffled the pups fur a bit and laughed also. Then he laid back on the bed, almost hitting the wall in the process. "Well, since you kept me up all night to protect you from the big bad nightmares I think I'll just have a nap here."

"Don't you think you should catch up on your school work?"

He sighed. "It's so troublesome. It's not like you and I both don't know that I will pass regardless. The teachers just need to realise that too and give me a passing grade. A complete waste of time if you ask me."

"How can you? You missed exams, the semester is over?"

"They will probably just give me some stupid Exam and say it's all or nothing. It will be ridiculously easy and I'll be back to the same spot as you. That said, how did science go?"

"I got Shino to help me. I did okay." You said shrugging. You forgot about Shino! He didn't even know Shikamaru was back yet. You text him right away.

"What are you doing?

"Texting Shino, he has been away with his dad. He'll be happy to know you are back!"

"I doubt that. Haven't you been spending all your time with him?"

"Yeah, so?" You glanced over at Shikamaru, he was so relaxed. He shrugged.

"Shino liked you before I left, I bet he likes you even more now."

You were shocked. "What? Nooo. I'm sure everyone knew how I felt when you were gone."

"I also know that people thought I wasn't coming back. Ino said she did."

You suddenly felt really bad for Shino. He was there for you, the only one who was, every single Sunday when you needed someone the most. He was the one who actually made you feel a bit better, and kept you going. And you never even glanced at him the way he looked at you. "Well, now I feel like shit."

Shikamaru shrugged. "That's how I felt when I found out about Ino once I was with Temari. That would have been too weird though. Our dads are best friends. Plus she is so troublesome." He said, making a face.

"And I'm not?" You laughed. Amaya jumped down to the floor and cuddled in to a pillow that you knew was there from Kiba sleeping over.

"No, you are. But you are just the right amount of trouble that I'm always intrigued."

"Oh? Is that so?" You smiled slightly and lowered yourself down to his lips.

"See this is what I mean, you go from being you, to this in seconds" He said while you kissed his cheek and down his neck. He groaned like you were troubling him then met your lips again. This time, for the first time, he asked permission by licking your bottom lip, and you let him in. He then pushed up against you, so he was in control. He was over you now and you had your hands under his shirt. You had never seen him without his shirt on and despite how lean he looked he did feel muscular. Then he stopped, he sat back up, away from you. He straightened his shirt while you sat there utterly confused. What had you done wrong?

"Despite what I would like to think we did technically just start dating this morning. Don't you think we could probably slow down?" He said, looking at Amaya on the floor. Her head was up now, turned to one side. He brushed a hand over his face, stopping in his hair before resting back on his knee.

You smiled warmly at him, despite the fact that he wouldn't look at you. "It just feels like its been so much longer. Like you've been here this whole time and we were together this whole time.

"How many times did you think you saw me?" He asked, suddenly serious.

You froze. It wasn't exactly something you wanted to admit to your new boyfriend that you imagined him more than once and thought it was real. But you knew what he was getting at. "I wasn't sleeping as well as I should have, that's it." You kept smiling at him, and he kept turned away. "But you never know, Mizuki is crazy. I'm from the same crazy family tree right?"

"How vividly did you see me?" He ignored your joke.

"Well… You usually talked to me. Or we would touch in some way. I could always smell you. You always smell the same." You paused, getting embarrassed now. You usually don't compliment how a person smells. He finally looked back at you. Again he was reading you. You knocked lightly on your own head. "They checked it when I fell. Nothing to worry about."

His look softened. "I'll always worry about something. It's the way I am. I'm always thinking."

"Are you sure your brain is okay? I bet all that thinking hurts." You said, pretending to check his head. He just shook his head at you, laughing. Now it was your turn to get serious. "Are you worried about me, what Temari said?"

"You don't kill people Ayame, you aren't bad luck. You just seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That's nothing to do with you." He answered putting an arm around your back. He knew exactly what you were asking when you did, telling you that he was in fact thinking about what she had said. You would always think about that. Everytime you have moved you thought about it. This was the only place however that someone fought for you to stay, so at least things were changed for you. Wrapped in Shikamaru's arm you knew things were finally better for you.


	15. Chapter 15

"Here Amaya!" You called, running head while the pooch followed behind you. She had big floppy ears that bounced up and down as she ran but they were starting to stand up on their own. You guessed by the time she grew in to them they would stand up completely, but you hoped maybe just the tips would stay floppy. She yipped happily at you as you ran her through the puddles. As she had grown she was getting big enough to not fall in every puddle. But you still had to give her baths after every walk before she was aloud in to the house.

The snow was gone by March, and now it was about half way through. March break from school was starting next week so you only had to make it through Friday then you would have the whole week to you and your friends.

Naruto and Hinata started officially dating right after you and Shikamaru had, within days actually, but it still hadn't been a month for either of you. March 15th was on Saturday, but you hadn't made any plans with Shikamaru yet. Neither of you bothered with plans, there was too much work involved with plan making. But you did secretly hope he would do something for you.

You had your long rubber riding boots on but you still had mud all over your back from kicking it up on yourself. You didn't mind though, you were just happy it was getting warm again. "Aya! Don't you even think about coming in here with those muddy boots on!" Ino yelled at you as you opened the door to the flower shop.

"Okay, okay. Did you want to come for a walk with us?" Amaya yipped in excitement. She loved Ino. Ino liked her a bit less though. Well right now she did because she didn't like the wet dog smell.

Ino plugged her nose. "Maybe on a drier day. Go see Kiba, he always smells like the dogs." She said, making a face at you.

"Okay your loss then!" You laughed, turning, and closing the door that you were standing in. Nothing had happened between Ino and Kiba, that you knew of, since Valentine's day.

You had come to realise recently that no matter where you went in Konoha you could find someone you knew. Especially now that it was warming up outside. In this town people really liked to spend their time outside. There was already talks of a bonfire during march break at the Hyuuga house, though you weren't sure if it was warm enough yet. There was weather reports calling for t-shirt weather in the week though and as long as you were in front of the fire it wouldn't be too bad.

**Lately I've been I've been losing sleep-**

"Hello?"

"Why do you always sound confused when you answer your phone? Everyone has their own ringtones, you know its me."

Amaya barked at you because you had stopped walking. You shushed her. "I dunno, its just how I always answer the phone? I thought you were working with your dad tonight."

He sighed deeply. "Yeah, he is working on the Mizuki case again so I'm not allowed to work with him. Since you are already out and probably playing in the mud why don't you come over? I want to see you."

You laughed. "you dropped me off at hope two hours ago. And how did you know I was outside?"

"I can hear the birds chirping and Amaya barking over the phone. Just come over." You laughed and put your phone away.

"Come on Amaya, we are headed to the farm!" She knew exactly where to turn and started running towards it. You jogged behind her, regretting the boots.

Coming up to the old farmhouse that you had become so familiar with you found Shikamaru up in the top of the barn, looking up at the sky. He wasn't napping so this worried you. He usually thought like this, though you weren't sure what he had to think about. He must have called you over for another reason. Knowing that he was working on the Mizuki case you instantly thought it must have to do with him. Maybe they finally had another lead. Maybe Shikamaru was leaving again. Thought you sincerely hoped that wasn't the case. You know you would be okay this time, since you still had Hana with you, but you knew you would miss him.

"So, why did you really call me here?" You called up to the barn. Amaya charged in, eager to play in the hay. He patted the seat next to him without looking down at you, but you saw him smile slightly. At least he wasn't mad at you for something.

By the time you made it up he was sitting with his back leaned on the door frame, his legs out in front of him, one bent at the knee, and his hands behind his head. Now his eyes were closed. He still had his uniform on from school but he had the simple green hoodie over it. He always seemed to wear that hoodie. There was the ends of the white shirt that he never tucked in peeking out from the bottom of the sweater.

"There's something that's been going on for a while all across the country. They are starting to think now that Mizuki is the blame." He said as you sat at his feet, your legs hanging out of the barn door.

"What kind of something?"

"A few rape victims found dead. Before it was all in one city, but they are slowly moving closer and closer this way. Father said there will be a public announcement out tomorrow about it."

"He's never done… than before though has he? What makes them think it his him?" You were looking out at the ground where you could see Amaya rolling in more mud. A few ducks were playing in the mud around her, which she would chase, then get chased away by the male. You didn't blame her, that duck spooked you sometimes too.

"Well they know it is a serial rape there have been certain similarities. Where the girls are picked up, where they are eventually found, how they are killed, their age, even how they look." You felt him looking at you now. You didn't want to look at him.

"Why would he pick girls that looked like me? He is my cousin. That's just weird."

"It's a serial thing. You are the one that is on his mind. He probably doesn't even realise it."

"So they do look like me then?" He let his leg fall out the door and dangle similar to yours. "I kind of figured." You said when he didn't respond. "It is bad?"

"Not the worst my dad has seen. About four so far." You flinched. That wasn't bad? These were innocent girls. "He would be stupid to turn up in Konoha again. Everyone knows him, everyone will be on watch for him."

"Stupid… or crazy…" You whispered. You weren't as concerned for your own safety. How many cities were there between him and you? How many girls? "So now I can think about him AND Ayden being around. "

"That was a month ago that Temari mentioned Ayden and we haven't seen him anywhere. I bet he isn't even in the picture. I bet she was just trying to scare you, that's how she is."

"Yeah you are probably right." You turned and smiled softly at him. He had been watching you the whole time. His lips were pursed and his eyes studied you.

"What are you thinking?"

"Do you need to know?" you answered looking back at Amaya, laying in the mud now with her head resting on her front paws. The sun had started to set and she probably wanted dinner. You weren't feeling hungry anymore. You were always surprised by Shikamaru. Sometimes he was able to read you like a book, others he had no clue what you were thinking. But either way he always knew exactly what to do. Today it was simply holding your hand, that was all you needed, was to know he was there.

"I'm staying with you tonight, okay? Hana will understand, she already knows." You nodded then stood up. Amaya excitedly jumped to her feet wagging her tail and staring up at you. "I'll just let mom know."

"Hello Hana. How are you doing?" Shikamaru asked when walking through the door. You gave a slight wave then led Amaya to the bathroom.

"I'm good, hungry all the time though. I guess you got the honours?"

"I wanted to be the one." Then kept talking but you had shut the door and turned on the shower.

Amaya knew the drill and jumped in to the shower, walking in circles a few times while you detached the shower head. Then you wiped her legs and stomach. She licked the water off your arms as you got wet, drying you off. "You got me all wet." You joked to her, causing her to whine. "I'll save you the shampoo today." She yipped excitedly then as you turned off the shower she shook herself off, soaking you and the entire bathroom. You were pretty sure there was permanent water splatters on the bathroom mirror. She ran out of the bathroom as soon as you opened the door.

"Ayame, I have an appointment tomorrow, want to skip school and come with me?" You heard Hana calling up the stairs. You walked down, stripping off your now wet sweater in the process.

"You know, you are supposed to make me go to school." You laughed. "Of course I'll come."

"Good, now go sleep in, the appointment is at noon." You looked around, seeing Amaya curled up in a dog bed in the corner with one of the triplets. You laughed then walked back up the stairs, Shikamaru must have gone up while you were gone.

You were right, walking in to your room you found him sitting at the desk, with a book out in front of him, probably one of your class books. He glanced up at you. "I think you give yourself more of a bath than you do Amaya." He said smirking.

You stuck your tongue out at him the reached your arms around his neck, leaning down so your face was next to his. "This is the first time we have slept in the same bed since the night we started dating." You said, laughing slightly, although you had to admit it did make you nervous. There was other people around at the party, now it was just the two of you. You had thought about it on your walk home too, with your hand in his, you were sure you were blushing.

"True. And I plan on spending every night this next week here." He said. "What is your point?" You pouted slightly and he raised an eyebrow, turning to face you. He sighed and turned the chair as you let go of him.

He sat in the chair facing you so you straddled him still pouting. "What?" He asked again. You looked at the back of his head and he sighed. "Okay, but you won't like it. I hate it but dad says it's the way Nara boys should look." He reached his arms back and tugged at the hair tie letting strands of hair fall around his face. It was all straight, as you had expected. His hair was thick. It reached just past his jaw, but didn't quit reach his shoulders. You smiled at him, happy to finally see it down. It was like seeing someone without their glasses for the first time, it made you happy. You reached your hands into his hair and played with it.

"What made you think I wouldn't like it?"

"I hate how it looks down. Like some depressed kid." He said scrunching up his face at you. "But are you happy now? You could have just asked." He said, smirking at you.

"This is more fun though." You pulled is face towards you with his hair and deeply kissed him. You continued to move his hair through your fingers, while he had grabbed on to the sides of your waist, holding you right where you were. You tried to push closer in to him but he restrained you.

"Aya." He said firmly. You pouted at him. "Please." You rolled your eyes and stood up.

"I don't know what the big deal is Shika. Do you not want to?"

He sighed deeply. You thought him staying over was because he maybe wanted to. You were a little hurt. "That's not it Ayame. I want it to be right. And I don't want to screw it up either." He stood up now, pulling you close to him, but still looked in to your eyes. "And I wanted to stay so I could make you feel protected, not to take advantage of you."

"First, you wouldn't be taking advantage of me. And second, I'm glad you are here tonight. I would have thought too much on my own."

Shikamaru kissed your forehead. "I know. Just leave all the thinking to me." Then he released you and took his bag to the bathroom, presumably to get changed. You wouldn't have argued if he changed in front of you though.

You moved quickly, searching through your drawers for your cutest pjs. You had to look cute after all, and your usual plaid pants and oversized tee wouldn't work. You did find a pair of flannel white striped shorts and a green cross back tee. You paused and debated before tossing your bra in to the laundry, you didn't wear one normally when you slept, why start now? Besides the fact that it was really cute. You brushed your hair smoothing it down then climbed in to your bed, on the wall side. Even when you didn't have someone in the bed you slept on the wall side.

"Are you afraid something is going to get you?" Shikamaru asked, raising his eyebrow at you while turning off the light when he came back. He was in black sweat pants and a tight fitting grey t-shirt. You could see his lean and defined muscles.

"I always sleep here." You shrugged, turning over to face him. He lifted the blanket to get under and you could swear you saw his eyebrow rise higher. You smirked in response. "I always sleep in this." You whispered shrugging and closing your eyes. You were sure he would catch that you were lying.

You felt his lips crash down on yours before your shoulders even fell back to their original position. He had one knee on the bed and his hands were supporting him beside your head, his hair making a curtain between you and the rest of the world. "You are… so… troublesome" He breathed between kisses.

You reached up and pushed his hair off of his face, pulling it to the back of his head and locking your hands in it. You pulled yourself up to meet him and his hand slid behind your back, pulling your chest against his. Then his lips left yours, making you whimper slightly, although you didn't mean to. Then his lips moved across your face then down your neck. Ask he got closer to your shoulder he pulled you closer to him, your chest pressed firmly against his. He stopped for a moment and looked in to your eyes, breathing deeply, questioning. You rolled him over on to his back and took control, easing yourself over him to be straddling him. He pulled your face down to his, working his hands in to your own hair while you reached under his shirt. Your hands ran over his smooth stomach and up to his chest.

This time he wasn't stopping you so you pushed his shirt up as far as it would go. He raised an eyebrow at you before propping himself up slightly and taking it off the rest of the way. This action alone made you more excited than you should have been. His warms hands made their way under your own shirt, pressing flat palmed on your back, then rubbing along your sides. He paused for a moment over the spot where your bra should have been then continued. His thumb grazed the side of your breast when his hands would come back up along your side, exciting you more. His touch was soft and yet firm enough to show that he was still in control, and strong enough that you could feel him pressing you closer to him.

You laid on him, your exposed stomach warmed on his own, your skin touching as you moved to kiss near his ear. He wrapped his arms tightly around you, pulling you even tighter to him. You suddenly became aware of his hard on, pressed in to your crotch and you adjusted yourself slightly to feel it better against you. He made a small noise as you moved, a sigh or a moan? You weren't sure.

Then suddenly you started to feel sick. You started to think of Ayden, pressing his way on to you. Feeling him inside you, like he was tearing you apart from the inside and not a single care for you no matter how much you cried. You had stopped entirely. By the time you realised what you were thinking Shikamaru and gently pushed you off, back to your side of the bed. He was no longer touching you, he was just watching you.

"I… I'm sorry." You finally squeaked out.

"What did I do?" He asked, sitting up. He pulled his hair back, clearly uncomfortable with the way it was sitting around his face. He sounded genuinely upset with a little worry.

"Nothing! Nothing! I just… I think I panicked." You reached out touching his arm. He almost flinched at your touch.

"I wanted to wait-"

"I know you did! I know. And I'm sorry! You shouldn't have to-"

He looked at you in a way that made you stop speaking. There was so much care in his eyes, and something else. "No, I want to. I want to make sure you are ready. I… Know you have a past that probably…" He sighed and rubbed his hand over his head, over his hair.

"How come you never wanted to with Temari?" You asked gently. You leaned against the wall with your knees to your chest.

"I guess it just never seemed right… Or felt right."He answered without looking up at you, he looked instead at his hands. He was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him. "Everything is just right with you."

You couldn't look at him; you were blushing way too much. He made you feel so good, so happy. But then you go and do this and upset him. As far as you knew you were about to be his first. Something that he had turned down before. And they you go and screw it up. You felt terrible. You could hear him moving beside you, finding his shirt again and pulling it over his head. You wanted to answer him, you just couldn't think of what to say.

"Don't worry about it Ayame." He finally said, turning towards you again. His eyes told you nothing, like he had wiped emotion from them. Now he just looked tired, not really annoyed, just exhausted. You wanted the look he was giving you before, with so much kindness and care. Had you hurt him by not answering him?

"I'm sorry." You whispered again. You could have stopped there, you wanted to. But you knew Shikamaru well enough to know that he would just think about how you ended it all night. Overthink it all. "It's nothing to do with you. I promise. I want to. I want to be with you. I just… It's just.. My only experiences are… not the best." You sighed.

"Mine are non-existent so you won't be worse than that."

"I meant traumatizing."

He was silent. He had known what you meant and was hoping to just laugh it off, pretend that wasn't what you were saying. "One day he will be stupid enough to come here, and I'll be waiting. One way or another I will take care of him, and then you can feel safe again." He finally said. You could see him clenching his fists, his knuckles were white and his muscles were flexed. You watched him through your eyelashes. Eventually you reached out and touched his arm, at which point he softened and looked back at you. He looked like he was in pain.

"I'm happy that you are just here, and mine." You whispered. He leaned over and kissed you lightly before wrapping you in his arms. You instinctively curled in to his chest, listening to his heart. He rested his chin on your head. "Thank you, Shikamaru." You whispered.

"I do it because I care and you make me happy. I'm selfish, there is no reason to thank me." He leaned back, his head making a light thud on the pillow as he pulled you back with him. Your hand made its way on to his chest and that's how you fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

"Okay, I will Shikakau. Yep. In a couple of hours. I've got it. No, I won't be late. Yes I'll tell Shika. Sorry, Shikamaru. Okay. Bye."

"I'm surprised he is even capable of talking that much at this time of the morning." Shikamaru said, his eyes closed lying next to you.

You groaned in response, remember that the sound of your phone ringing had woken you up. You looked at the screen on said phone, seeing that it was just after eight in the morning. Normally this wouldn't be an issue for you but for the past two nights Shikamaru had been staying over and he likes to sleep so you have slept in with him.

"So what was that about?"

"He wants me down at the station. He says they are closing my hit and run case. Not that it was really a case to start with. Anyways they need my remarks or something."

"Are you sure you want to talk about it?" Shikamaru asked, sitting up and brushing his hair back into his signature pony.

"Well you have to come with me, so that should help." You answered smiling. "Besides, if I just think about the bonfire tonight that should help."

He sighed. "Do we really have to go?" He pouted slightly. "Can't we just stay in?"

"We stayed in all weekend! It's Sunday night of march break, we can go out! Besides its so warm today, and by the fire it will still be nice and warm."

"I'm not worried about warmth." He answered, pulling you in to his lap. You gasped slightly, not expecting it. "I'd just rather stay in with you. That's all."

You stared at him. "You do have other friends you know." You laughed.

He shrugged, allowing you to leave now, but you stayed in his lap. You kissed him deeply. "None of them kiss like that." He said, smirking. You laughed then got up, heading to your closet to pick an outfit for the day. Hopefully one that would last the night too as you didn't really want to come back to the house to change. Shikamaru pulled his week bag from the corner where it was neatly hidden away and opened it.

You blushed making a decision on a shirt you simply pulled off your shirt there, facing the closet. You weren't sure it he noticed as you pulled on a bra followed by your long sleeve tee. Usually he was out of the room before you could start to change, but you wanted him to know that you were comfortable around him. Your one month passed by yesterday entirely uneventful. But it rained all day so it was nice for the two of you to sit inside and watch movies all day. But after a day cooped up inside you were happy to get out. Besides you could already see the sun shining in through your window. Today would be a good day.

"Well, are you ready to go?" You asked, turning, after pulling on some jeans and a sweater. You were amazed to find that he had changed silently behind you. You were a little disappointed that you hadn't noticed, maybe you would have looked. He just smiled at you in response and handed you your own phone while sliding his into a pocket.

On your way downstairs you passed the recently cleared out office that you knew Hana was planning to paint yellow soon. There was still no confirmation on what the baby would be, but Hana hoped for a boy. You secretly hoped for a girl.

You stepped outside, smelling the recent rain still in the air but feeling the hot sun on your face. It was going to be warm today, you already knew it. And sunny all day long. That was why you had decided that you wanted to go to the police station early, so you didn't waste the rest of the day. Shikamaru easily grabbed your hand as you both walked towards the police station where you were sure Shikaku would be surprised to actually see you this early.

"Oh good, you are here. We were just sorting through the evidence, come with me." Shikaku said, without even a hello. You glanced at Shikamaru and he shrugged, following a step behind you.

Shikaku opened what you knew to be an interrogation room and on the table was a bunch of plastic bags, and beside them pictures. Before you knew what you were doing you looked at the pictures. Your hands running over the table in front of them as you saw photographs of the car, Iruka's car, and the mangled mess it was in. The picture was from the morning, the light could tell you that. You and Iruka were long gone. You would have already been in the hospital bed for a while by then, and Iruka in the morgue. There was glass all over the ground and in one picture you could see blood, a lot of it.

You glanced back at the others. Shikaku was labelling other items and placing them in the box, some pieces of the body of the car with coloured scratched on them. Shikamaru was making a point of not looking at you, or the items on the table. He was looking instead at the floor. This would be his second time seeing these things, you had almost forgotten. Back then, when you made a point of hating him, he was the one that saw this in the moment. You grabbed his hand and he squeezed in back, but he still didn't look up at you. You didn't even realise how hard it was on him, even now.

"Okay, so basically I only need the same statements as before. Did you see the driver? What he looked like? The vehicle? And how did Mr. Umino behave?"

"He was yelling at me for lying to him…. Lecturing me. I wasn't even looking at him. I noticed him go silent. When I glanced over at him I saw the headlight- Wait, was that from me?" The bag being placed in to the box now held clothing. It wasn't your though. And it wasn't what Iruka was wearing. You knew exactly who it belonged to: Shikamaru. It wasn't the same as you had last seen it. It was covered in brown stains. The stains that you recognized as dried blood. "That much… Left me?" You asked in shock. You had let go of Shikamaru without even realising it and reached up to your head. It didn't hurt anymore, the bruising all gone. But there was a scar there, under your hair. Last time you were at the hairdressers she hit it with her comb, unaware that it was there. "How am I alive?"

"According to the paramedics that arrived at the scene you weren't. They claim that when they arrived Mr. Umino was pronounced dead on the scene and you had no pulse. They figure you were dead for about two minutes before they could resuscitate you." Shikaku answered, reading your file.

You looked at Shikamaru now. He was pale. That's why it was so hard on him. You lost your life there, in his arms and he couldn't help you. You finally understood. "Why did you do it? Why did you take me out of the car?" You asked, looking at Shikamaru. You were making a point of hating him at the time, you remembered that.

"You looked like you were trapped. I… I have to go. Nothing has changed in my statement, Dad." Shikamaru turned on his heel and left.

Shika's POV

You couldn't take it anymore. The blood, the car, the pictures. It was like a bad dream that just kept coming back. Your heart was racing, your eyes were stinging. You moved swiftly through the station to a side door, that only those looking to sneak a smoke knew about, and you of course. This is where you had met your mentor so many years ago. You opened the door, relieved to see no one out there and let out a deep breath, not realising that you were holding it in that long. The shaky breaths kept coming out of you as you leaned against the wall, looking at the ground. That was easily the worst night of your life, how could you re-live it. You had thought you would have been fine. Ayame was with you now, she was fine. What happened then shouldn't have mattered now. She was safe now and even better, although you still weren't certain how you managed it, she was yours. Standing in there, looking at all that stuff you realised that you really couldn't handle it.

You had seen evidence from car accidents before. Ones where everyone died. Ones where children had died. Although they were sad you knew that the reason you looked at them was to figure out what happened. Because if you didn't no one would and those people wouldn't get confirmation that the person who put them through their pain was punished. You knew this would be hard on Aya especially. She would never know who had killed Iruka that night. The drunk driver wouldn't know that he had murdered someone. Those were the kinds that would be driving drunk again. You knew that for a fact.

"Hey… are you okay? A man named Asuma told me I could find you here…"

You looked over, seeing her peeking behind the still open door. She looked nervous or maybe just unsure. But there was something in her eyes when she looked at you, so much care. You never wanted to hurt this girl again or upset her. You never wanted to disappoint her. You wanted for once in your life to be the very best you could be for her. She let go of the door and walked towards you, pulling you in to a hug, one hand behind your head pulling it in to her shoulder. You instinctively wrapped your arms around her waist. By this point it always felt so natural to you, so right. She was so perfect, the kind of perfect you wished you could be. "I'm sorry. The first time was bad enough, I couldn't see it again."

"That's okay. It was kind of interesting for me, seeing it for the first time." She answered quietly. "It's done now though. The box will be locked away, or burned for all I know." She laughed slightly.

You lifted your head from her shoulder and looked in to her eyes. "I love you Ayame."

Aya's POV

You stared at him for eyes wide. He had never said it before, although you were pretty sure he meant it and had wanted to say it for a while. You wanted to say it a while ago but one night at Ino's house she threatened to practically murder you if you said it first. Something about her friend needing to ball up. And that you could scare him away, which you really didn't want to do.

"I love you too Shikamaru." You answered right before he leaned in and kissed you. "It's okay now though, it's over now." You smiled when you broke apart.

He pressed his forehead to yours. "You are way too good for me." You blushed and he chuckled slightly. "I hope I always have that effect on you."

"Okay okay, lets forget this all! Let's enjoy the sun!" You mused gesturing towards the sky, while wriggling away from him.

"Are you sure we can't just stay in all day?" He sighed. You shook your head and started walking, knowing that he would follow. Before long he caught your hand and fell in to step with you. You glanced over at him and smiled, walking towards the centre of town.

"I feel like every weekend we are here."

"O shush. Maybe once a month. Plus they have the nicest house, of course we all come here." Ino answered the whining Shikamaru. You looked in the mirror and laughed. He was always stuck in the backseat When Ino was driving. Even with Choji in the car Shikamaru ended up in the backseat. He leaned back with his hands behind his head.

You would have rather walked to Hinata's but Ino was taking advantage of being able to use her mother's car for the week. She was given permission to use it for seeing colleges. You knew that the plan was to have a bonfire tonight then the next day you Ino and Hinata were going to TenTen's college to visit her. With the school year winding down Shikaku was able to secure a co-op spot for Shikamaru at the station so he would be working all week. Although you knew he still planned on going back to your house at the end of the night.

"Aww look they started the fire without us!"

"Well maybe if you didn't take so long packing…"

"Oh shut it!" Ino hissed back at her long-time friend. You laughed at them both before stepping out of the car and immediately smelling the fire and hearing laughter. Bonfires were a big thing in the last city you lived in. Pretty much every night you would be at a bonfire with Ayden. But usually everyone would get too drunk and pass out. Tonight it would be with your friends and your man and you knew this would be the best bonfire yet.

And to start it off you found Kiba and Naruto wrestling in the grass without their shirts on. "Guys! Come on! It isn't that warm out!" You could hear Hinata trying to yell, barely audible. Kiba shouted something about being the better fighter. Akamaru barked loudly at him. Kiba had told you that he was leaving Akamaru at home so you left Amaya at home.

From the corner of your eye you saw Shikamaru already make his way over to the lawn chairs beside the fire, choose the comfiest looking one and sitting down. Also by the fire was Sasuke, Sakura, Shino, and Choji. Next to Choji you saw a table with hotdogs, marshmallows, graham crackers, and various other things for cooking over the fire.

"I… I wasn't sure what everyone liked so I… uh just got a bit of everything." Hinata whispered, seeing you looking in the direction of the food.

"That's fine, we will eat it all!" Naruto laughed loudly while pulling on his black t-shirt. He then draped his arm aroung her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. Naruto laughed as she turned bright red and tried to turn away from you, as if you didn't see it. You just laughed also and started to walk over to Shikamaru and the fire, where everyone else had already made their way.

The Hyuuga's had a perfectly manicured courtyard in the centre of their estate where you though the bonfire would be. However instead everyone was on the back. Although it made more sense this way as the kitchen opened to the back. Surrounding you was a rather large manicured yard and along the edges was the forest. At least to the back and side. In the very back was an old playset that included a swing. You knew from talking to Hinata that when she was younger she spent a lot of time there, thinking.

You were probably just being paranoid but you thought you saw a light in the forest to the side. You looked back to the group seeing Akamaru was looking in the same direction, though he didn't seem concerned. Probably just an animal or something, maybe deer.

You started to pull up a chair next to Shikamaru when he pulled you instead in to his lap. His lifted your sweater slightly, pressing his arm palms on your stomach before leaning back again. "Why waste a chair?" You could feel him smirking against you.

"Have you decided what you want to do next year yet Hinata?" You asked, knowing that the last time you talked she was deciding between English and History.

"I'm uh… actually thinking about taking dance…" You saw your timid friend blushing slightly.

"My Hina is an amazing dancer! Did you know that Aya?" You laughed at Naruto. Of course you knew that, everyone did. He was the one that was apparently blind to her most of his life.

"You are so lucky to be able to make a choice Hinata! I'm going to school for business. So I can take over the shop. But if I don't, who will?" Ino pouted. "I think I'd go do fashion if I could! Like my aunt you know?"

"I think you guys are lucky to have it all set up for you. Your families are all so close that you all know what you are doing next year! I can't even decide what to do." You said, referring to Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji that all had family businesses to get in to.

"You could just stay here. I can work, you don't have to." Shikamaru joked. He knew you were against that. You wanted to do something, you just weren't sure what yet. But you also knew that he was afraid you would go off to school and leave him. He never said it but you were pretty sure that was how he felt anyways. Truth be told he was the main reason you were struggling so much with your decision. You didn't want to leave him either.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Ino and I FINALLY printed off some of the pictures from Valentine's day! Wait until you guys see these!" Sakura shouted before running back in to the house. Through the glass door you could see her fidgeting around in her bag before running back to the group holding a photo album. "Some of them were so good that we HAD to put it in the album!" Sakura laughed then sat back on the bench where she was before. Everyone, including you crowded the door.

The first three pictures were all of Sasuke, which with Ino and Sakura taking turns with the camera you fully expected. The next picture was a very unimpressed Sasuke with a smiling TenTen in the closet. You could swear that TenTen had never taken a bad picture in her life. When the page flipped both you and Hinata let out small gasps as the next page had Hinata and Naruto's first kiss on it, with her cheeks as red as can be. Opposite of that was you leaned over Shikamaru in the closet kissing him. Naruto laughed nervously at the sight of his own picture before wrapping his arm around Hinata. She shyly buried herself in his side.

"Okay, okay next page." Shikamaru finally said as everyone else was having too much fun with your reactions.

The next page was mostly selfies of Sakura with various people, including Temari. Ino scoffed at the sight of her. Apparently since that night Temari had come back to town to attempt to apologize to Ino. Ino had told you all after that Temari seemed like she was high and drunk. Ino refused her and kicked her out. "Wait, my favourite one is on the next page." Ino said, laughing slightly while turning the page.

"Really you guys were taking pictures of that?" You asked.

"Damn, you have quite the arm don't you?" Shikamaru laughed, referring to a picture of you punching Temari. It was actually right after you had punched her. She wasn't flying as far back as you would have hoped but she did look surprised anyways. The picture right after was a blurry one of Kiba holding you back.

Everyone laughed at the Temari pictures before moving on. The final photos were apparently taken after everyone was asleep. Couples cuddled up to eachother, and random guys sleeping, such as Choji, who everyone commented that he was snoring. It never bothered you though.

There was two pictures of you and Shikamaru in the entire album, they were the only two pictures there was of you and Shikamaru. You never liked any of the pictures you had taken and he would start complaining after two photos anyways so you usually dropped it.

"We should play manhunt!" Kiba said with a mouth full of toasted marshmallow. Everyone had gone back to random seat and there were smaller conversations going on at this point but you knew Kiba was bored and agitated. Akamaru barked in response.

"Unfair, as long as Akamaru is here you will always win!" Naruto shouted.

"I'll give you a handicap too then." Kiba paused to think. "How about I have to count to 20 after you start before I can start." He said.

"Or, Akamaru could just sit out."

"Yeah but I'm still better than you and could beat you without him."

"Whatever. No phones guys! Everyone put your phones on the bench."

"When did everyone even agree to this silly game?" Ino asked, but still put her phone on the table. You weren't sure why, but you were also putting your phone down. Manhunt could be fun, right?

"How about Sasuke is one of the hiders, then if you find him you can curl up in a bush with him." Naruto said, winking.

"I'm in!" Sakura shouted almost too excited.

"There should be… two hiders." Kiba stated, then pointed immediately at you.

"Wait, why me?" You asked. "I'm terrible at hiding, I am always found because of my white hair!"

"so pull up your hood, silly." Ino said, tying your hood up around your face. Your hair was now in your eyes so you blew it away.

"Don't worry, I'll find you first." Shikamaru said, winking.

"You are a part of this too?" You asked, looking at him past your hair.

He brushed your hair away from your eyes. "I know I'll win so there's no point in me sitting it out."

"You guys are so competitive." Ino stated. "But that's fine, I'll still beat you all."

"Okay rules are you can only hide on the property, OUTSIDE. You can go in the forest but only about 10 steps in, we don't want to spend all night in the woods." Kiba stated. Everyone was instinctively moving around him. "Okay everyone eyes closed, hiders you have until the count of thirty, GO!"

You started running. Seeing Sasuke jogging slightly towards the treeline when you thought you saw the deer you decided instead to go back by the shed at the back of the yard. It was more of another garage. There was some thick bushes there that you knew you could hide in and that others could hide with you. When you reached the bush you could hear Kiba loudly counting down, now at 10. You squatted down in the bush slowly before eventually kneeling in the dirt, this was manhunt, you didn't care about appearances. You situated yourself in a way that you would be comfortable but also be able to see the action through the bushes.

"3… 2… 1… GO!" The few really competitive guys started running right away, so Naruto and Kiba. Ino and Sakura were butting heads already, trying to beat eachother to where they were going, although you knew that they were both running away from Sasuke, who you knew was their subject. Hinata started right in the direction of Sasuke, and you could see that Shino was already headed towards you, although slowly. You watched Shikamaru, seeing him looking around calmly before eventually joggin slightly to the right of where you crouched. He probably intended to come around the back of the shed and scare you himself. You smiled slightly to yourself.

"Found you." There was a hand around your mouth as you heard not Shikamaru but a different voice. You recognized it immediately. Something was pressed in to your back, his knee as far as you could tell. "Shhhh, it's okay Aya. You knew this was coming. I told you that no one has ever left me."

You were lifted to your feet and pressed with your back against the shed. You were looking into his large grey eyes. Ayden's eyes. They were glazed over like he had drank too much. Your tear filled eyes darted around trying to see the fire, Shikamaru, Shino, anything. You hoped that someone would find you now. "Rotten luck that they picked you to hide. It's like they wanted to get you away from them." You tried to scream but he pushed himself against you. "One more time. I'll knock you out." You tried again, knowing that Shikamaru and Shino were both nearby. By now they should have been anyways. The last thing you heard was a soothing "shh" before everything went black.


	17. Chapter 17

"She wouldn't hide so well. We've been yelling for her for half an hour. I'm telling you we need officers out here now!" Ino yelled in to her phone. You knew it was at her own dad, he was the one on duty tonight anyways. You also knew that someone your age had to be missing 12 hours before they were considered a missing person. But this was Aya you were talking about. Her phone sat on the table, with all the others. Her hiding spot empty. You knew she was there, you heard her run in that direction. You knew she was thinking of places that other people could hide, always thinking of others. You saw Shino walking towards you now coming from the house where he had retreated. The other girls were inside now, and some of the guys as well. People were scared. The only ones outside were now you, Choji, Ino, Kiba, and Shino. You just stared towards the shed, barely hearing Ino's screams for her friend. She was tearing up now, you could hear it in her voice. Choji was trying to comfort her but she pushed him away.

"There was a car seen speeding away on the highway just the other side of these woods. Silver compact, but that's all they have so far. Its because of its proximity to us that they think it might have something to do with this." Shino said looking right at you although you couldn't look at him. Or anyone really. You knew the car, you'd seen it around lately, here and there. It was a little strange, sitting around the corner from Ayame's house. You wondered if it was her deranged cousin, back again.

It wasn't like him, to just steal her. He was more of a psychopath than that. He wants her acceptance. He would bribe her in to coming with him. He would make her want to be with him. He needs that afterall, to feel wanted. At last that's what you and your dad had figured out. That was your profile for him. You followed him long enough to know how he was, what he wanted. But yet again, it seemed you were wrong. Of course you were wrong. Who else would it be right?

"Temari… Temari, where is he? Where is that asshole?!" Ino shouted in to her phone. Ino had figured it out before you. Were you really outsmarted by your companion? Of course, it had to be Ayden. Aya had been terrified of him for the past week. You took the phone from Ino, she was sobbing now anyways, likely unable to understand her.

"I- I- Why are you so mad at me?! I did nothing? How the fuck was I supposed to know anything about him, you guys won't let me in! But you sure took in that bitch right away."

"Enough. Tell me where you saw him last." You cut her off. You could hear her gasp. It was probably your tone of voice. You were speaking harder than you needed to. But it was either that or full on breaking down. How could you all be so stupid? Playing that children's game? And you were right there too. She was right under your nose! But now she is gone. You have never cared so much for someone ever before and you knew that you wouldn't be able to go on without her. You knew there was no way you could live without her.

"This is YOUR fault! Why would you even suggest this stupid game!" Ino shouted, in Kiba's face. There was tears in her eyes. It hurt you to see her like this, you wondered mostly how you were holding it together. Her hands were clenched as she hit Kiba's chest. He never answered though, he just wrapped his arms around her, giving her a place to hide her head.

Your phone was ringing, you saw it on the table ringing and jumped to answer it. "Hello?!"

"Shikamaru, listen to me. You know full well by protocol that we can do nothing about this until she has been missing for 12 hours. You know this. But no one can stop me or you from looking for her. You know her better than anyone else. You can help find her. Just think hard about where she may have been taken and I'll be there soon." Your father hung up. You were in shock. You weren't sure he would care this much if it were you who was missing.

"I can help. I'm a good tracker, just like my sister. Besides, Hana needs Aya. Let me come with you." Kiba said, he seemed to have heard your dad speaking over the phone. You looked at Ino as well who was still crying.

"I'll take care of her." Sasuke offered, placing a hand on Ino's shoulder.

You nodded. "I want everyone to go inside just in case. Kiba, can you and Akamaru ensure that she went towards the road. I need to figure out where he might have taken her." You sat down, crossing your legs and closing your eyes. Your hand clasped thinking about everything she had told you, anywhere someone like Ayden could have taken her.

Aya's POV

"Good morning." The first thing you heard upon waking up. You felt your hands bound together and your legs were asleep below you. You seemed to be awkwardly slumped against a wall in a somewhat familiar room. You knew what had happened, so why was _he_ talking to you? "Surprised? I was too. But we had the same goal so he approached me, asked me if we wanted to work together. Did you figure out the goal yet? That's right baby cousin. It was you! See I just want a little family, and he just wants you. He's been dealing with some… other things as well but that won't stop us from being a family." He leaned in close to you as he said this. You could smell booze on his breath and he hissed into your ear.

"You know they will come for me right?"

"Yeah, but trust me you won't want to leave." Mizuki pointed to a place behind you. You followed his finger seeing a small figure crumpled in the corner. Her face was bruised, her breathing shallow, and her hair was white as snow. You couldn't stop yourself from gasping. "I'm sure with you he won't need to continue with this nonsense. But don't worry, I'll take care of you. He just wants to be loved. But I promise he won't… kill you." Mizuki laughed to himself before standing up and walking towards the door. "If you are good maybe you can get your hands back."

The door closed behind him and the only light left was a thin sliver from the window that was mostly blocked by a thick blanket. The room itself had changed a lot since you were last here. The bed was gone, the tables. In fact the only thing left was a small area rug on the ground. Before the room was the bedroom in Ayden's family's cottage. You thought of your friends. What they were doing now. It was morning so you were sure that Shikamaru had a plan by now. He had to be on his way, he knew who took you it's only logical that he would come here to find you. You were sure the address was public anyways.

You looked at the young girl again. She was still breathing but it seemed like she was passed out. You studied her face. She was younger than you. She may have even been a virgin. You don't remember ever thinking that Ayden was this crazy. That he could do something like this. You heard a scream outside and after a short period another young girl was thrown into the room. She was bruised as well, but conscious. Her hair was long and white, she was probably older than you.

"You got me! What do you need her for?! What do you need either of them for?! They are innocent!"

"Oh Princess." Ayden spat the word at you, giving you chills. The girl had already moved to the back of the room with her. Maybe she had been here before? "I had this toy before I got you. So why would I let her go? I'll just fuck her until she can't anymore then she can… leave." He smiled at himself.

"Why are you like this?! Why are you doing this Ayden?" You cried. The older girl was holding the other one now pulled into her lap.

"As if you don't know. You did this. You made this happen!"

"You aren't like this, you can stop, and you can change. I'll be with you, by choice!"

"You aren't going anywhere." You saw him looking at your crotch. You clamped your legs as tight as he could but he still unzipped his pants and lowered himself to your level. "So, I don't care if you WANT to be here." He tugged at your pants, pulling them from your waist far too easily, pulling you to the floor as he did. You looked above you, seeing the other girl facing away from you, not doing anything for you at all.

"Enough! You leave her alone!" You looked above Ayden's head to see your cousin there, holding his gun. Ayden shrugged and left, but not without kissing you, a little too rough. Reminding you that you still belonged to him. The room was silent again after he slammed the door.

"So _you_ are the reason that all us girls had to start fearing for their lives. The reason that we are both here. That the others died. What the fuck did you do to him?"

You didn't look at the other girl. Your eyes stung with tears. "I have no idea."

Shika's POV

"We've been driving all night, you must have thought of something by now!" Your dad snapped. He hadn't slept, you hadn't slept. You had told him to start driving towards the desert. You knew that Temari could give you a clue, or you hoped she could anyways. You knew that your dad would hate the idea of going out of his way to get the information. You knew that he would have all the answers if he was where you were. He was always smarter than you, as much as it killed you to admit it.

After discovering that her scent did in fact lead to the road you asked Kiba to go to his sister, tell her to be calm and what had gone on. Told him to take care of her and you would take care of Ayame, you had to. You had promised her that you would. You remember asking her, after the Temari thing in February, anything she could about Ayden, just in case. At the time you were scared for her also, but after a month of nothing you stopped thinking about him. He didn't seem stupid so you knew he wouldn't go home, and that was the only place she had remembered him living right?

Living. That's the thing! Maybe he wasn't looking for a place to live. Maybe he was somewhere obscure. You suddenly remembered her telling you about his cottage. Not the average cottage, it was apparently out in the forest, his family liked to hunt, especially deer. That's it! He had to be in that cottage.

"Dad, turn left, we need to go to Horat Forest, that's where she is. A cabin in the forest."

"Get comfortable, that's at least a day's drive now." He sighed, following your direction and turning left on to a back road.

Aya's POV

The girls names were Akira and Hotaru, the younger one, Akira, woke up not long after. Akira gave her some water. She was scared though, wouldn't say a word. Both girls stared at you a lot, probably confused as to why they were beat up and you weren't. You were sure they were even more angry when in the night Ayden returned and took Akira, for what you understood as being the third time. You tried to go instead, take her place. Better you than her. But Ayden told you that you would have your turn but he had to get rid of these ones first. You shuddered at the thought.

Hotaru continued to cower in the corner with Akira gone. But before long Mizuki came for her too. You had no idea that Mizuki was helping Ayden with this too. You thought he was better than this. That's what you had told him, he simply answered that he was making sure that you weren't up to anything.

"They will be going into hiding for now. Whether they are alive or not you'll never know. But as long as they are hidden you have to stay. You see baby cousin only you can save them, but only if you stay here, okay?" With that he left, dragging Hotaru by her hair.

You were alone now, seated in the centre of the room, on your knees, your hands bound in front of you. Tears rolled down your cheeks. Shikamaru was on his way to you now, you were sure of it. But you couldn't go with him. You couldn't go home to all your friends. You had to stay here, to protect the other girls, and stop the rapes; you needed to be here until you could turn them in yourself. Until you were sure that all girls were safe. Until there was so one being hurt anymore this was your fault after all.

But how could you tell Shikamaru that? How could you say goodbye? You broke down, sobbing loudly.

"Get your shit together. Apparently someone is on their way here so, we have to move." Ayden yelled, coming in to the room and firmly grabbing your arm.

"Forget it Ayden, they passed by. No one is looking for her, no one cares."

"What about the ones that followed you for months? They didn't care?"

"The car is gone, just drop it Ayden. Why don't you go… relieve yourself." Mizuki said pointed towards the front door. Ayden dropped your arm and charged out of the room. He shoved Mizuki on the way. "I can find something for you to play with too little cousin, if you'd like? Mizuki smiled, seemingly genuine.

You shook your head without looking at him. He shrugged and left. You stared at the ropes around your hands. You had already struggled with them, finding they were tied incredibly tight. You glanced at the window. It was getting darker outside. You dragged yourself towards it and looked at. As you had figured you were in the same spare room you had stayed in before. You could see Mizuki walking through the yard towards a beat up brown car. There was also a silver car leaving the property. Were they actually both leaving you here alone?

You leaned against the wall below the window staring at your hands. Maybe there was something around tht was sharp enough that you could get the ropes off of you? Your stomach growled loudly. That's right the last thing you ate was the smores… last night? You weren't even sure. You wondered if Hinata and Ino went to TenTen's. Although probably not… but then again maybe they did. You kind of hoped they would, since you didn't really want them putting their lives on hols for you. But you were friends right? If you were all friends then you know they would probably still be at the Hyuuga's waiting for someone to find you.

Was Hana searching for you too? Was she endangering her little one to find you? No you couldn't see Shikamaru letting that happen. What about Amaya? Did she notice that you weren't there? She was protesting when you left for the Hyuuga's yesterday.

Oddly enough you weren't really worried about Shikamaru. You were sure he was on his way to you now. And he would understand your decision, you were sure of it. But would he forgive you? You certainly hoped he would anyways. A door slammed outside causing you to jump. You hoped it was one of the guys back, bringing back the other girls. At least then you would be able to see them, know that they were alive. You were kicking yourself now for not thinking to watch where Ayden was going with them. Did they go to the car or are they closer than that? You couldn't really see him taking them far, how could he keep an eye on them. But at the same time he did just drive away, unless he was going to get yet another victim.

"Ayame?…" It was like a whisper in the darkening room. So quiet you weren't even sure you had heard it. You sat up on to your knees, hitting your shoes on the floor in the process. The door opened and there you saw Shikamaru, exactly who you knew it would be.

Tears sprung to your eyes immediately as he moved to your side, beginning immediately to untie the knots. As soon as they were free he wrapped him arms around you, a gesture which you returned.

"shhh, shhh. It's okay, I promise."

"You have to leave Shikamaru. You can't stay." As calmly as you could manage you pushed him away slightly to look at his face. He was shocked. "I need to stay here. There are others, other girls that have been taken. If I don't cooperate they kill the others."

"Ayame." He answered firmly, holding your arms. "You don't need to be a hero. Shikaku is outside, he can handle them. We can call in the others-"

"But if you take them in the other girls will die. They will be left out there with no one to save them!"

"We can find them too. We have search dogs and-"

"No Shika. No we can't." You answered firmly. His expression broke for an instant, then he regained his composure. He knew there was no changing your mind now. "Everyone is always saving me. Those girls need me to save them."

Shikamaru stopped you, his lips crashing down on to your own. You answered back, glad to stop with the words as you could feel your voice breaking. Goodbyes had never been so hard. But as soon as you knew something you'd go home right?

He pulled away first, holding your face in his hands and pressing his forehead on yours. "I love you Ayame. And I trust you… But please don't do this."

Tears threatened to blind you. You looked down, unable to face him. You were scared, afraid to stay. But the girls needed you, Hotaru and Akira needed you to stay. They were right, this was your fault, so you were the one who needed to solve the problem. "I'm only staying until I know the others are safe. I just, can't leave them." He nodded slowly before leaving in again. This time you stopped him. "Please, don't make this any harder." You said, wiping your eyes. He pulled away, standing up now and wiping his own eyes on his sleeve.

You couldn't look up which he left. You couldn't see his back to you. You wanted to jump up and run with him, leave with him, be with him. But you knew you couldn't. The choice was already made. You had to save the others and stop thinking about yourself.

You heard Shikaku meet Shikamaru at the door. "She's braver than you could ever hope to be."

"I know."


	18. Chapter 18

The floor creaked with each step you took, but then again it always had. For about a month now you had been free to walk to house as you pleased. Watching movies with your cousin seem to have paid off. You couldn't be outside completely unsupervised but you seemed to earn your way in to the house. Truth is once you get past the whole raping innocent people and kidnapping thing you kind of liked being with the guys. Well, Mizuki anyways. He was right when he said you were family after all. For once in your life you actually had family, which was nice.

The best part about your new found family is he protected you from Ayden, he needed to. At night Mizuki let you lock the bedroom door, ensuring that Ayden wouldn't disturb you. Although you also knew that he had some sort of baby monitor in place in the bedroom to ensure you would be kept in. They had even bought you a bed. Or found it, you weren't sure. All you knew is that it was more comfortable than the floor. Your window was still locked, to be extra sure. Slowly you could feel them trusting you more, and you were beginning to trust them more and more.

In the evenings Ayden would leave, always returning in the early hours of the morning drunk out of his mind. You weren't sure where he kept going, or how no one recognized him at the bars or on the road as the suspect. When you watched tv with Mizuki there was always reminders between shows of the faces of the escaped criminal and the man suspected of kidnapping women.

The kidnapping never stopped. You wouldn't be with him the way he wanted so he kept getting more and more women. You were sure Hotaru and Akira were dead by now. In fact you think you may have seen the young Akira's body, you may have helped to move it. You just remember one day Ayden entered the cottage carrying a duffel bag. Mizuki lost it, screaming at him, threatening him with the gun that always sat on the table. You saw through a crack in the zipper a small face, bruised and bloodied beyond recognition with pale skin matching her pale face.

More often than not you cried yourself to sleep, thinking of the young women. Thinking of them all alone wherever they were. Sometimes Ayden would have you meet them. Speak with them, comfort them while he was busy. You weren't sure why but you always told them the same thing, that everything would be alright. That you had the situation under control. Of course you didn't, but that couldn't stop you from the lies.

Growing up you had always felt special with your pale hair. You never knew another young person with hair like yours. Now they came in weekly, a new girl from a new place. Including Hotaru and Akira you had seen six fresh faces. Six young women whose lives would be changed forever.

You needed to do something for them, something to protect them. Something to save them, but you weren't even sure what could be done. You had run different scenarios through your head. Running in the night, fighting back, sneaking around to find the girls yourself, killing Mizuki with the gun he always placed on the table. You knew you couldn't do the last one. You wouldn't be able to kill him, not now. Maybe before. What had changed? What made you so unsure that he deserved to die? Possibly because you knew that he never killed anyone. He never raped anyone. He protected you himself. He trusted you. Could you break that trust? Maybe he just needed help? Maybe he needed to go to an asylum.

You peeked around the corner, the hallway illuminated by a single lamp on in the living room. Mizuki was gone. He had said he would be gone for at least a day. He was preparing things, although you were unsure what he meant by that. You hoped that with him gone you could maybe find the girls, save them. If he came after you again well… You were in a relationship with a future cop, he couldn't get you right?

Were you even still in a relationship? You idly flipped through some loose papers in a box by the fire, meant to be burned tonight, hoping to find something about the girls. Not that they were on your mind now. It had been almost two month since your disappearance. You never saw your own face on the news so that meant your family still believed in you right? Or maybe they simply forgot about you. It was the middle of May now, they had better things to think about. Like school coming to an end in a month. Everyone would be graduating. Just like you should have been. Hana was due to have her baby in two months, that would keep her and the other Inuzuka's busy. You hoped that Hana was still taking flowers to Iruka for you. Or maybe she had forgotten that too.

You and Shikamaru have been dating three months now… If you were still dating. He would have waited for you right? You thought of him and Temari at that party. He would never forgive himself for that, but would he do it again. That was waiting a few hours. Now he had been waiting two whole months.

You had stopped with the papers a while ago. Frozen in thought. Looking down you saw a familiar face looking up at you. In the paper dated one week ago was your own face with the words 'Please Help' scrawled along the bottom. So someone was looking for you? You felt a familiar tingling sensation in your eyes. You felt the tears begin to well up, taking over. The contact phone number belonged to the police station in Konoha. The picture was from your last night in Konoha, sitting beside the campfire. You were smiling and holding a toasted marshmallow. Shikamaru sat slightly behind you, leaned back in a chair, hands behind his head, and smirking at nothing.

You looked so healthy and vibrant. Your cheeks kissed by the fire light. Now they looked almost gray. You were never outside so you began to look like the walls around you, grey and sullen. Your eyes had no light. The only time you even felt remotely happy was watching tv with Mizuki, but you realised now that it was never happiness. Maybe it was only acceptance of what you had become. Happiness was in Konoha, happiness was your adopted family, not this one.

You didn't even hear the car pulling up, you were too immersed in your own thoughts. You felt your arm grabbed by a strong force, his hands callused and hard as if he had been working. He reeked of beer as he flipped you around to look at his face. There was only a moments pause before his lips crashed down on to yours, making a sloppy mess of your own. He was urgent, needed, biting your lip, begging for a response. You pushed against him, pushing him away but it was no use. There was nothing you could do now, he was much stronger than you, he always had been.

"Ayden…. Get, off!"

"mmmm… no luck Princess….. cousin… out of town!" He laughed slightly before pushing back down on you, pushing you fully to the floor. You flailed, trying to get away but he held firm, pressing the hands down on your arms, pushing them into the floor. It was as if he thought the floor would engulf you and hold you for him. He pressed his leg between yours, spreading them. Tears were streaming freely down your cheeks but you knew he would have to let go of you to get you pants, he needed to let go.

When he did you quickly pushed down on his shoulders, pushing him away from you before jumping up away from him, as far as you could get. You glanced at the door, seeing how far it was, how it was behind him, away from you. You begged that he would simply pass out. You could see his eyes drooping, glazed over with the alcohol. You could see the sweat beading on his forehead as if this was a huge task for him. You could see his eyes trying to discern where you actually were as if he was seeing double. Right now he was big and he was dumb. You could get away easy. You looked at the door again, mapping out a possible route.

"Ah ah… what about the others -hic- Princess…" He hissed the name that he used to say fondly. You knew the answer now. There were no others. You saw him take away a bag this morning. He clearly didn't have any others or he wouldn't be advancing on you now.

He lunged towards you again but you avoided him, jumping up on to the couch. You tripped coming down, landing on the floor face first. Only you could be this clumsy. He took advantage of it and grabbed your ankle. Taking it in his fist. Pulling you towards him again.

"ENOUGH!" Your saviour, your safety, your cousin. When Mizuki jumped letting go and you knew it was over. Today wouldn't gain you any freedom. You instead ran back to your room and locked the door, sliding down against the door and holding your face with your hands. It was over for you today.

"Ayame… its okay, you are safe now. Come on out and watch so-" The gunshot to follow reverberated through the walls into the floor, through your body and your bones. Your ears stung with the sudden loud noise. You shook when the body hit the door. You could feel it sliding down, in to the floor. You jumped away from the door as blood began to pool under it, sliding in to your own room, almost reaching the area rug. White hair had also reached under the door, framing the face you knew you couldn't see.

You didn't cry, the shock was took much. The room seemed to spin, the house growing darker as you also slid to the floor, shaking violently. That's when he began to shout. Tell you that this was your fault. You caused this, you could have stopped this. He told you that if you didn't come out soon he would break down the door.

You sat there silent, waiting for him to come to you for what felt like hours. Waiting for him to break down the door and have his way with you. The room was dark, you didn't dare to move to turn on the light. You heard the familiar sound of his drunken snores and decided that now was the time. Now was the time for action and for you to go home. You opened the door slowly, feeling the weight of your cousin against it. You couldn't look at him though, only stepped over his limp figure. Ayden was on the couch, a cig in his hand, threatening to fall to the couch. You could only hope it would happen, engulf him in flames.

You tiptoed from the house, leaving the door open in fear that closing it may slam it. You stepped silently towards the car. There was three now, but the original silver one was still there. It was the only one you felt comfortable driving. You had only driven twice before but you couldn't just run. You couldn't run for days back to Konoha. It was half a days drive back, you were sure of it. You knew that all you needed to do was get to the highway and you could find home from there. Tears welled up again thinking of it. Of home.

"Well lets go then, how about we go back home? I can take you there. I can take you there then maybe I'll fuck you on the ground outside your house. Leave your bloody body there on display for all to see, that's what you always wanted right?"

You weren't even sure how he heard you, how he could have woken up but here he was, gun in his hand, pressed to your temple. Fresh tears streamed down your face. This was it. This was the end for you.

Ayden drove for nine hours uninterrupted, not even a single cop pulled him over to check that he was drinking. You felt a lump deep in your stomach, wishing that he would drive in to the ditch. He was weaving in and out of traffic and crossing the lines all over the place. Like the rules didn't matter to him.

They didn't really. They never had. You always knew that. He was too good for the rules, the laws. He kept him hand on your leg almost the entire drive, holding your thigh firmly, rubbing circles with his thumb as if he was comforting you. But his thumb was a little too close, and his comfort wasn't doing any good. Tears lined your cheeks for nine hours.

It was almost over. You recognized these roads now, recognized this forest. The Hyuuga estate would be coming up on the left any moment now, next you would be driving in to the heart of Konoha. The tears continued to fall as you drove past the Nara farm. The light was on in the barn, but then again it was early in the morning, Yoshino was probably out doing the chores. Or maybe Shikamaru was. This would be your last look at your home away from home.

You shook your head slightly, not enough to bring attention to you but Ayden still strengthened his grip on your thigh. It was numb by now, like he had been cutting off the blood to it. You had a sneaking suspicion that it would bruise. It would match the one on your knee from when you fell at the cottage. The harsh purple had slowly erupted on your knee throughout the night. You couldn't look out the windows anymore, instead you focused on the Dash. The gun, sitting in plain sight. The radio that had long ago turned to white noise when you lost the previous radio station. Ayden hadn't bothered to change it or find a new one. Although maybe the white noise kept him awake.

You were on a large concrete bridge now, connecting one side of the city to the other. You looked at the steering wheel. Before you even knew what you were doing your hands were moving. Turning the steering wheel away from you. You heard his angry cry as he finally released your leg. You heard the crash. And you felt the airbag.

You looked through the smoke, looking over to your left. Staring at Ayden. You felt a light trickle on your cheek. The airbag had cut you when it deployed. It smelled like Christmas crackers. Ayden was out cold. When someone found him they'd realise he was drunk. Then you could testify and he would go to jail. You smiled to yourself. He delivered you home and you finally took him out.

Like a horror movie his hand shot out, grabbing your wrist firmly as you attempted to unbuckle your seat belt. He stared at you, blood dripping from his forehead in to his right eye. It clearly didn't bug him though.

"You little bitch! What the fuck were you thinking?!"He shouted, pulling your body towards his. Twisting your wrist in his arm. You used your other hand to slap him, then push him away from you. You slipped out on the car behind you, landing hard on the pavement ass first. You rubbed your tailbone lightly before getting up and bolting in the other direction.

Your feet pounded on the pavement. There was only one place you knew you had to go. There were so many places you wanted to go to first but you simply couldn't. You knew where you needed to go. Where you needed to be to get help.

The door swung open with ease, like it had been pulled for you. You slammed your hands on the counter, faced with a surprised and shocked looking young woman. You didn't give her time to ask.

"On the bridge. Ayden… On the bridge!" You breathed heavily.

"Ayame?" You heard the familiar voice to your left, glancing over you saw Shikaku.

"I crashed the car! It's on the bridge! He's there! He's in the car!" You stood firm, staring him in the eyes. His expression turned from surprised to serious.

"Take a squad of at least five. We can assume he is armed and dangerous. He is wanted all over the country for the abduction and murder of numerous women. And thanks to this girl we might finally have him. Go!" No one argued. They all set off immediately. You recognized some.

You relaxed immediately after the door slammed shut. Your shoulders resting naturally and finally you were breathing. Deep heavy breaths, keeping you together. Holding you in place.

"Mizuki?"

"Dead."

"Lets get you to Hana, she's been worried." Shikaku answered, steering you back towards the door with an arm around your shoulder.

"Shikamaru?" You whispered the question in to his side.

"He misses you too, but we can wait to call him until you are safe at home." You nodded, although he couldn't see it.

It was like you couldn't stop crying. But now they were tears of happiness, finally you were warm and happy. You saw the blurry outline of your home. Shikaku knocked three times before opening the door, like it was his own home. You dropped to your knees in the doorway, letting fresh sobs rip through your body as you hugged your not so small puppy. Amaya recognized you immediately, licking the tears off your face.

"Shikaku! Why are you here at this hour of the morning?!"It was as if she ran down the stairs. She had, you heard her soft footsteps all the way down before her body collided with yours. You took in her scent, strawberries as it always was. Hana held you close to her chest, you head resting on the crook of her neck. When Amaya finally wiggled her way out you gripped on to Hana, as much around her stomach as you could.

"I need to head back to the station, I trust you guys are okay?" You heard Shikaku ask in his deep voice.

"Thank you… for bringing her back."

"She brought herself back actually… She is a brave young woman."

"I know." Hana stroked your hair as she spoke with Shikaku. You weren't sure if he left, you couldn't hear it. But your sobs slowly softened as you were reminded of how little sleep you got the past night. You drifted off, safe in Hana's arms.


End file.
